Red earthenware covered with a white slip and painted in colours; with incised decoration of a lion with a butter churn on the inside and flowers and foliage on the outside. Switzerland (Langnau), dated 1773.

Rounded bowl with flat spreading foot and collared stem. Inside, between flowering plants, a rampant lion working a butter churn; outside, a band of formal flowers with similar flowers on the foot. Under the lip an inscription which reads: "Barbra Reist der Seegen dess Hern Macht Reich und Zwinget Keine Müh mit sich 1773".

Given by Mr J. Falcke

Wyss (see Refs.) illustrates a Langnau dish (dated 1759) with an incised image of a rampant lion in the centre. There is an inscription in the centre which says that the dish was made for a married couple and as the lion is the king of the animals, so should the man be master of his house.
Wyss also illustrates another Langnau dish (undated) with a lion spinning yarn.

The lion with a butter churn on this cup could indicate a playful view of the man being master of the house and the chores that go with it.

This form, of which the earliest examples date from the 1730s, is called a ‘Nidle-Napf’. It was to contain thick whipped cream. Inside is represented a wooden butter churn. Old itinerant men used to go about repairing such ceramics – like this one which shows signs of previous staples – until the end of WW2.

C.123-1930