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Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
Pearlware jug, wheel-thrown, footring, ovoid body, cylindrical neck, slightly upturned spout, plain handle, yellow glaze. Neck inscribed in red BONAPARTE (spout) DETHRON'D April 1st 1814'. Body printed in red with a complex on-glaze cartoon showing Napoleon in chains being dragged into a fiery pit by a devil and surrounded by various characters all with speech bubbles. Landscape setting. Red enamel rim. Yellow glaze very black speckled.
This jug was made to commemorate Napoleon's abdication and subsequent exile to the island of Elba, off the coast of Italy, in 1814. It is inscribed around the rim inscribed 'BONAPARTE DETHRON'D April 1st 1814' (altering the actual date by a few days to land on April Fool's Day). The jug is transfer printed with a lively scene of men and women celebrating Napoleon's downfall. Napoleon stands in chains at the centre of the composition, waiting to be taken away by the Devil and exclaiming 'Oh Cursed Ambition what hast thou brought me to Now'.
