- Museum number
- 2006,0905.1
- Description
-
Earthenware egg with circular pierced hole through the centre printed over the glaze with several prints, various of them poorly applied: an inscription (at the left) 'The Gatheringof/The Unions (to the right)' REFORM BILL/Passed 7 June/1832; Britannia seated by a shield with the Union Flag with a lion lying in front of her; to the left a rose, thistle, shamrock and a bunch of leeks; an eye; and a poem: Lo! we answer/Quick on Freedom's holy Day/We come! We come! We come! We come!/To do the glorious work of all;/And hark! we raise from sea to sea,/The sacred watchword LIBERTY!'; the verses below to right and left are blurred.
- Production date
- 1832 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 76 millimetres
-
Length: 108 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- A jug printed in black with what are apparently the same prints as on the egg is in the collection of the Reform Club, London, and is illustrated in the exh.cat. 'Reform! Reform! Reform! (2006), p. 15. There are three verses on the jug, including the first which can be read on the egg. A copy of the exh. catalogue is in Coins & Medals. The dimensions of this jug are 14cm ht. and 18cm from the handle to the spout at its widest. Photos of the jug taken at the Reform Club are on file.
The verses were sung at a peaceful demonstration in Birmingham in May 1832 of the Birmingham Political Union, founded by Thomas Attwood, which in fact coincided with the Government's defeat on a Lord's amendment to the Reform Bill. A second demonstration followed Grey's resignation as Prime Mininster, and a third, of joy, greeted the news that the King had recalled Grey.
For a badge inscribed in red T P/ATTWOOD/ AND THE COMMERCE/ OF/ WHITEH/AVEN see Sibson, 1991, p. 39, fig. 2. The egg has been attributed to the Whitehaven Pottery as various eggs, apparently used for darning miners' stockings, also decorated with prints, are shown in Sibson, and also because Whitehaven and Birmingham shared the distinction of being newly-industrialised towns without representation which were particularly involved with the movement for electoral reform. The pottery also made several items decorated with inscriptions to the Liberal candidate for Whitehaven, Littledale.
The emblems are taken from other sources, so far unidentified, and are intended to stress the reformers' loyalty to Britain. Britannia, the British lion, the eye of Providence and roses, thistles and shamrocks all appear on medals celebrating the passing of the Bill, examples of which are in the British Museum's collection.
- Location
- On display (G47/dc7)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
Reform Club, London, 2005-2006, 'Reform! Reform! Reform! (Electoral Reform form 1832 to 1918, cat. p. 20 illus.
2018 12 Jan-11 Mar, BM, 90a, Pots with attitude: British satire on ceramics
- Condition
- Good.
- Associated events
- Named in Inscription: Reform Bill 7 June 1832 (Bill passed)
- Acquisition date
- 2006
- Acquisition notes
- Acquired by the vendor in the 1960s
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 2006,0905.1