Current Location: In storage
Maker(s)
Factory:
Unidentified
(Possibly)
Entities
Categories
Description
Tin-glazed earthenware painted in manganese and sponged in blue and yellow. Inscribed on the spine 'joye/des/hommes'
Earthenware, moulded,with two applied cylindrical spouts, tin-glazed, painted in dark manganese-purple, and sponged in blue and yellow. The flask is in the form of a book with two cylindrical spouts at the top when the book is upright, and four horizontal projections on the spine. These are painted in dark manganese-purple, and between the first and second from the top is the inscription 'joye'Des/hommes (joy of men). The sides are sponged in blue and yellow to give a marbled effect, and the fore edge and the spouts are painted yellow.
Notes
History note: Henry Griffiths Collection, London; sold Sotheby's, 28 February 1898, lot ; bought for £2.2s.0d. by Dr J.W.L. Glaisher, FRS, Trinity College, Cambridge
Legal notes
Dr J. W. L. Glaisher Bequest
Measurements and weight
Depth: 6 cm
Height: 19.5 cm
Width: 12.8 cm
Acquisition and important dates
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed
(1928-12-07)
by
Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr
Dating
18th Century, second half
Circa
1750
-
1800
Note
J.W.L. Glaisher considered that this book 1750 was a hand warmer, but the inscription 'joye des hommes' indicates that it was a container for strong liquor. Bernard Rackham attributed it to Lyon in his Catalogue of the Glaisher Collection (1935). A more likely place of manufacture was Roanne in the Lyonnais, where the manufacture of book-shaped flasks seems to have been a speciality in the late 18th century.
People, subjects and objects depicted
Components of the work
Decoration
composed of
high-temperature colours
( blue, yellow, dark manganese-purple)
Surfaces
composed of
tin-glaze
Spine
Height 18.1 cm
Materials used in production
Earthenware
Techniques used in production
Moulding
: Tin-glazed earthenware painted in manganese-purple and yellow, and sponged or dabbed in blue and yellow
Hand building
Inscription or legends present
- Text: joye/des/hommes
- Location: On spine of book
- Method of creation: Painted in blue
- Type: Inscription
References and bibliographic entries
Identification numbers
Accession number: C.2348-1928
Primary reference Number: 73387
Old object number: 111
Stable URI
Audit data
Created: Saturday 6 August 2011
Updated: Tuesday 27 May 2025
Last processed: Tuesday 15 July 2025
Associated departments & institutions
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
