Description
A rare imposing and amusing large scale pearlware pottery flask in the form of Souter Johnny. The original mould for this piece was excavated at the little known Montrose Pottery Works, Hillside, Montrose, Angus, and now held in the Montrose Museum. (Thank you, George Haggarty, for this information).
Strongly decorated in bright enamels captures the friendly face of Johnny, immortalized in Robert Burns’s poem Tam o Shanter. ( Souter is an old Scottish term for cobbler). The sturdy, impressive handle decorated in pink luster.
NOTES
In 1789 Burns was asked to produce a witch tale to accompany a picture of Auld Kirk Alloway in the book Antiquities of Scotland. His response was a poem regarded by many as his masterpiece: Tam o’ Shanter. The story was based on an old legend about two Ayrshire farmers who spent too long drinking and on their way home saw witches dancing with the devil in the ruined kirk at Alloway.
The central characters were Tam o’ Shanter and Souter Johnnie and were easily identified by residents of Kirkoswald as neighbors Douglas Graham and John Davidson. The two were old friends who were well known for socializing enthusiastically in Ayr on market days, often returning home late in an imbibed state.
NOTE;
Souter Johnny’s cottage still stands and is owned by The Scottish National Trust.