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The eagle used on Herculaneum pieces is very distinctive, with a characteristic radiance containing the stars representing the 13 original states and an additional star either side the eagle’s head for the later states of Vermont and Kentucky who entered the Union in 1791 and 1792 respectively.  The characteristics of the Herculaneum eagle include the motto-ribbon which the eagle grips in the center and carries in front of its body, the shape of the eagle’s wing, particularly the conformation of the leading edge. Although it occurs in many sizes and often without HERCULANEUM beneath, the image is consistently portrayed in the same way.

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Perhaps the best known of the printed designs commemorating the death of Washington was that engraved by John James Barralet in 1800 and published by Simon Chaudron and Barralet in Philadelphia, and which was the source for the design on the reverse of this jug. In early February 1802 J. J. Barralet advertised his print “APOTHEOSIS OF WASHINGTON FINISHED FOR DELIVERY  ….. The subject Gen. – Washington raised from the Tomb, by the Poetical and Historical Genius, assisted by Immortality – at his feet America weeping over his Armour, on the opposite side an Indian crouched in surly sorrow, in the third ground the Mental Virtues, Faith Hope and Charity. No doubt some examples of Barralet’s first edition traveled to England where enterprising manufacturers adapted the image for decoration of goods destined for the American market.

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The companion piece.