Shape Type: Miscellaneous

Pattern Type: Genre Scenes

Date: 1788-1800

Dimensions:

  • Height: 7.05 in (17.90 cm)
  • Length: 6.61 in (16.80 cm)
  • Width: 4.92 in (12.50 cm)

Maker: Ralph Wedgwood (probably)

Description:

Creamware jug printed with the phrase "The Last Drop" in which the figure of Death strikes with his dart a man drinking the last drop of punch from a punchbowl. Eighteenth-century punch consisted of brandy (or rum) with lemons (or limes) and sugar, and was the equivalent of a lethally strong 'alcopop'. One user complained that drinking it made him lose sensation in his fingers so that he could not even hold the glass.

An example with this print in the Doncaster Museum is marked WEDGWOOD & CO. for Ralph Wedgwood, probably at the Hill Pottery, Burslem.

http://printedbritishpotteryandporcelain.com/what-did-they-make/pottery-item/jug-84