‘Scent of Thyme on Midsummer Night‘ Harvest Jug

‘Scent of Thyme on Midsummer Night’ Harvest Jug From the Midsummer collection of Suffolk Harvest Jugs for The Merchant’s Table by artist Annabel Pearl. Thyme is the creeping, fragrant herb that Oberon mentions carpets Titania's magical resting place, releasing its scent when crushed and it forms a garland around the words The Scent of Thyme on Midsummer Night. The artichoke symbolises hope, prosperity, peace, and love, its heart a sign of devotion, love, and future romance. The Romans and Renaissance nobility viewed the artichoke as an expensive delicacy, and it became an emblem of wealth and abundance. The Sweet Briar rose and the Musk Rose have an intoxicating scent that Puck and the fairies use to scent Titania's bed. And the Burnet Moth, and Silver-washed butterflies float above the garland of flowers, and the lingers at the foot of the jug, looking up at the moon and the stars. Using traditional terracotta and cream slip, Annabel has drawn into the clay with sgraffito and finished the jugs with a warm honey-coloured glaze. The visual stories and imagery she has decorated the jugs with depict the plants, animals, birds and myths of the magical landscape of Suffolk. Approximate Dimensions: Height cm, Diameter cm Annabel Pearl's Midsummer Harvest Collection, inspired by Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and despite being set in Athens, the historic English rural celebrations of the Summer Solstice that are at the heart of the play. Plants and untamed nature feature heavily in A Midsummer Night's Dream and the fragrant flora of the English countryside; most notably, the Love-in-Idleness flower. As the sun reaches its peak and the night is at its shortest, the natural world transforms. The primeval magic of Midsummer reverberates through dreams, spells, and the enchanting power of plants, birds and creatures. The lush, aromatic woodland bed is alive with flowers, bees, lizards, birds and beetles while the sun stands still for this one day of the year. Part of the Midsummer collection of Suffolk Harvest Jugs by Annabel Pearl including The Midsummer Honey Harvest Jug, The Coronet of Roses Harvest Jug, The Nightingale Sings on Midsummer Night Harvest Jug and The Scent of Flowers on the Longest Day Harvest Jug. Harvest jugs started to be made in the early eighteenth century as vessels to serve ale or cider in at the harvest celebrations, and these simple terracotta and slipware jugs bring a feeling of everyday joyful celebration into a home. As harvest jugs grew in popularity and became highly desirable their status grew. Soon they were being commissioned by aristocrats, farmers, and landowners to commemorate special occasions and became prized possessions in England and America. These handcrafted keepsakes rarely left the families they were made for and are now highly collectible as much for their beauty as for their importance as artefacts of social history. The harvest jugs Annabel made for The Merchant’s Table all honour both the imagery and ceramic techniques used by the Master Craftsmen family: George, Robert and Edwin Beer Fishley whose beautiful work can be found in The Fitzwilliam Museum. The decorative vitality of the Fishley harvest jugs is charming and soulful, and their rotund bellies abundantly express sentiments of love, joy and friendship.