Description
This exceptionally rare creamware tankard is decorated with a fine quality underglaze transfer print which is colored and shows a Highlander playing the bagpipes in the form of Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Highlander expresses a smiling delight at the predicament of Bony, who is upside down with his two legs over his right shoulder. This satirical piece was made to commemorate the victory over the French at Alexandria Eygpt in 1801, where the 42nd Regiment of the Royal Highlanders captured the colors of Napoleon’s Invincibles. The print shows pyramids in the background and has two verses in a script,” An old performer playing on a new instrument or one of the 42nd touching the invincible” and from a bubble from Napoleon’s mouth which is singing the verse the Highlander is piping, the national anthem of Great Britain “God save Great George our King,Long live our noble King, God save the King.”