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GREAT AUSTRALIA
GREAT AUSTRALIA

GREAT AUSTRALIA

Datec 1860
Object number00039545
NameJug
MediumCeramic
Dimensions120 x 110 x 65 mm
ClassificationsCommemorative artefacts
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis small earthenware jug is decorated with a black transfer print of the clipper ship GREAT AUSTRALIA and a printed poem inside a floral border. Ceramic ware such as this was often produced to commemorate the launch or loss of a ship. This jug was produced at a pottery in Sunderland, England and is an example of their trademark pink lustreware.HistoryA number of potteries were active at Sunderland, England during the 19th century. These potters specialised in pink lustreware and often did not hallmark their items. They commonly produced jugs, mugs, pots and wall plaques decorated with black transfer prints of the Sunderland region, ships, rural scenes or religious subjects. Clipper ships were part of everyday life in the mid-19th century and potters often commemorated great ships or fast voyages in their work. The trademark pink lustreware of Sunderland potters was created by spraying fine drops of oil onto newly painted lustre while it was wet. When the lustre was fired, the pools of oil left a mottled surface. Lustreware can be recognised by its iridescent surface which is created by painting glazed pottery with a mixture of silver, gold, platinum or copper dissolved in acid. The colour of yellow indicates the presence of silver, ruby indicates gold, silver indicates platinum and red or pink indicates copper. In the 19th century copper was by far the most common and cheap lustreware available. It features predominantly in Sunderland wares. The GREAT AUSTRALIA was a wooden bark built in New Brunswick, Canada in August 1860. The 1,661-ton, wooden, three-masted clipper ship was specifically designed to cater for the growing number of immigrants coming to Australia. It was owned by Wright & Co of Liverpool and used for transporting cargo and passengers between Liverpool and Melbourne from 1861 until 1864. It wrecked off the coast of Burma on 14 July 1865 while carrying a cargo of rice bound for Liverpool. The poem on this jug reads: Sweet oh sweet I that sensation Where two hearts in union met But the pain of separation Mingles bitter with the sweetSignificanceThis jug represents ceramic souvenir pieces made during the 1860s and the clipper ship GREAT AUSTRALIA. The vessel was named after the country to which it spent most of its time sailing.