‘Coronet of Roses‘ Harvest Jug

‘Coronet of Roses’ Harvest Jug From the Midsummer collection of Suffolk Harvest Jugs for The Merchant’s Table by artist Annabel Pearl. The goldfinch symbolises joy, renewal and in folklore, spotting the bird’s golden wings is an auspicious sign of celebration and good fortune to come. Here the Goldfinch sits eating ripe gooseberries. The Rosa mundi or Apothecary rose is the oldest striped heirloom rose, favoured by the Ancient Greek and Romans and cultivated since the 16th century. The rose has romantic links with the legendary Fair Rosamund, mistress of King Henry II and curls around the words: Midsummer Blooms with a Coronet of Scented Roses. (Act II, Scene I, A Midsummer Night’s Dream). 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 Scent of Thyme on Midsummer Night 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.