Description
An exceptionally rare pottery pearlware glazed and silver luster decorated pitcher with a striking portrait in underglaze black of the Welsh MP John Jones.
The reverse is decorated with the statement, ” May the independence of CARMARTHEN never want a supporter, Nor the wings of LIBERTY ever loose a Feather”.
Made in the Dillwyn Period of the Swansea Pottery Wales.
The jug was made to commemorate his entry as a Member of Parliament. The Yestrad (Ystrad) is a reference to his home.
John Jones was a Welsh speaker, quite a character, and a strong supporter of the rural farming community.
He was born in 1777 in Carmarthen and was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. He went on to Lincoln’s Inn to qualify as a barrister. He stood as a Conservative in the election of 1812. In 1815, he replaced Sir Thomas Picton as MP for Pembroke Boroughs.
When Reform legislation was introduced in the House of Commons in 1831, Jones voted against the second reading. At the subsequent General Election, he was injured in rioting at the Carmarthen Guildhall. Later that year, he fought a duel with Robert Fulke Greville, another Welsh politician.
His efforts to have the salt tax abolished earned him the nickname “Jones yr Halen” (“Jones the Salt”). He died in 1842 from a heart attack.