Bird on the Rock bottle

Handled tin-glazed earthenware bottle, decorated with a bird-on-a-rock scheme, which consists of a central panel depicting, in blue and white, birds sitting on rocks surrounded by flowers and sprays of foliage. There are panels of overlapping lattice pattern above and below the central panel. The outside of the handle is covered in solid blue and underneath its terminal is a painted date of 1627 or 1628. There is a solid band of blue above the base. The bottle is intact apart from some minor damage around the rim. The decorative scheme, inspired by the blue-and-white Ming kraak porcelain, was a popular motif among pot decorators in the first half of the 17th century. The pattern is often associated with Christian Wilhelm, who was an immigrant from the Low Countries and settled at Pickleharring quay in Southwark. Found in a well during excavations in Parliament Square.

Christian Wilhelm was originally involved with the manufacture of vinegar and smalt, a blue glass containing colbalt oxide, which is finely ground for use as a blue pigment. Wilhelm was in dispute with an Abraham Baker over infringement of an agreement about smalt production, which led to Wilhelm diversifying into pottery production in about 1618. In 1627 or 1628 Wilhelm petitioned the king for a grant of privilege for the manufacture of smalt. A total of six bottles dated and decorated with similar bird-on-rock schemes are known in museums and private collections. They may have been produced at Pickleherring pottery as a special edition to demonstrate the ability of Wilhelm's factory to produce high-quality wares, perhaps in support of the petition to the Crown. This may explain the presence of this vessel within the precinct of the Palace of Westminster (reference: Thomas, C., Cowie, R., & Stephenson, R. (2006): The royal palace, abbey and town of Westminster on Thorney Island, MoLAS Monograph 22).