Designer:
Cruikshank, George
Maker:
Unknown
Glazed white earthenware plaque, printed in black and painted in pale green, bluish-green, yellow, pale orange, pink, red, grey and black with a bust of Harriet Beecher Stowe in an oval frame with below, a rectangular pale orange panel inscribed in black: 'MRS HARRIET BEECHER STOWE/THE AUTHOR OF/UNCLE TOM'S CABIN' (the RS of MRS smaller and raised). The portrait is surrounded by black and white male and female characters from said novel, and a whip and shackles lie in the foreground. A narrow gold band and a wider gold band encircle the rim.
History note: Purchased from Historical and Collectable online auction, ‘Commemoratives, Fairings, Stevengraphs, Staffordshire Pot Lids and Prattware’ on Tuesday 18 October 2022, lot 86.
Given by the Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum
Depth: 1 cm
Diameter: 16.4 cm
Method of acquisition: Bought (2022) by Historical & Collectable The Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum
19th Century, Mid
Production date:
circa
AD 1855
: after 1852
This plaque celebrates Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–96), author of the best-selling novel of the nineteenth century, 'Uncle Tom’s Cabin'. First published in two volumes in 1852, the novel has frequently been credited with galvanising America's anti-slavery movement, but Stowe's reduction of her black characters to distinctive 'types' simultaneously encouraged negative stereotyping. The design on this plaque is after the upper half of a print, a design for an advertising broadside, designed by George Cruickshank and engraved by John Thompson, publicising a pirated 1852 edition of the novel produced by publisher, John Cassell. Notably, Cruickshank’s original design does not include the whip and broken shackles that are so prominently placed in the foreground of the design on the plaque, which must have been added by the ceramic factory’s transfer print designer, presumably to emphasize the brutality of slavery and the suffering of enslaved people. This plaque with its totally plain and flat back, and bright attractive colours, would have been intended for prominent display (likely mounting on a wall, placement on a shelf or on a table), clearly communicating the abolitionist views of the owner. For the artist's proof of the original design, see V&A no. 9442. Two original preparatory sketches for this design are in the collection of the British Museum, 1975,U.674 and 1975,U.675, the first mentioned more detailed than the other.
Surfaced
composed of
glaze
( slightly blueish)
Decoration
composed of
enamels
gold
Part
white Earthenware
Glazing (coating) : White earthenware, glazed, transfer-printed in black and painted in pale green, bluish-green, yellow, pink, red, flesh, pale orange, dark brown and black enamels and gilded round the edge of the frame of the portrait and the outer edge of the plaque
Inscription present: Printed on a rectangular panel beneath the frame
Inscription present: rectangular white paper stick-on label
Accession number: C.16-2022
Primary reference Number: 311910
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Plaque" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/311910 Accessed: 2025-04-03 23:58:51
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University of Cambridge}}
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