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Description: | 'A Hard Nut to Crack'; 'For Right and Liberty'
Early First World War period British patriotic/commemorative glazed earthenware jugs exploiting the commercial opportunities of the Kaiser's well publicised comment on the British Expeditionary Force (rendered by the contemporary press as the 'contemptible little British Army') and expressing support for the Belgian resistance to German invasion by reference to the defensive strength of the forts defending Antwerp and Brussels. Louvain, better known for its historic university, library and beautiful churches, was subjected to systematic destruction by the Germans in late August 1914, the news of which was much exploited by Allied propagandists. Antwerp fell to the Germans on 10 October 1914. Given the optimistic inscriptions on the pieces the date of manufacture is estimated to have been in the second half of August 1914.
One of a set of three glazed pottery jugs bearing humorous patriotic imagery based on the theme of the Kaiser trying to use a nutcracker to crush a British 'Tommy'; the 'Tommy' increases in size as the jugs get smaller. This jug bears the inscription: 'A Hard Nut to Crack', all three jugs share identical reverse designs and inscriptions: four black and white flags and scroll reading 'For Right and Liberty'. | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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