This earthenware jug, hand-painted with scenes from The Yeomen of the Guard and finished with a pearly lustre glaze, carries no maker's name on the foot. I have however been able to establish beyond reasonable doubt that it is the work of one of the most important ceramic designers of the 20th century, and is almost certainly unique.

The opera's title and subtitle appear on front and back of the jug, while on either side is a scene from Yeomen. Interestingly both sides feature Shadbolt, the reason for this becoming clear during my research, as I will show. Around the rim is, "A Tale of Cock & Bull / Gilbert & Sullivan / 1888". While the scenes are under the glaze, the red enamel of the lettering is on-glaze. The royal crest under the lip appears at first sight to have little relevance, but again may be explained.

The starting point of my research was the distinctive turquoise background and pearly lustre glaze, both typical of the 1930s output of the Maling factory in Newcastle. Chief designer at Maling at this period was Lucien Boullemier, and both the artist's grandson and Steven Moore, an expert on Maling Pottery, have confirmed that the jug is most likely his work. It is known that Boullemier, whose career is discussed in more detail below, enjoyed decorating ware outside of his working hours, as gifts for friends, and, even more importantly, that he was a gifted amateur performer with various Gilbert & Sullivan Societies. Indeed, Lucien played Shadbolt at least twice, and surely this explains the overemphasis on Shadbolt as a character on the jug.

Lucien Emile Boullemier was born in Stoke, the heart of the British pottery industry, in 1877, and as a young man trained under his father, Antonin who was a French portrait painter and ceramic artist working at the great Staffordshire firm of Minton. Between 1903 and 1905 he relocated to America, where he worked at the Lennox Pottery. Although he is best remembered today as the man who introduced lustre to Maling, he was in fact only at the Newcastle firm from the early 1920s to 1936. After his departure he returned to Staffordshire, taking up a design post at the New Hall pottery, while his son carried on in his place at Maling. During a long career in ceramic design he also worked at the Soho, Royal Doulton, and Derby potteries.

As well as being a major force in ceramic design, Boullemier was also a skilled portrait painter. The Royal Family purchased two of his portraits of Queen Victoria, and in 1932 he also painted the Duke of Windsor and the Prince of Wales. A self-portrait of him as Shadbolt is still in existence, and a detail of this is shown here.

Lucien Boullemier was also an extraordinary sportsman. As a lad he played football for Chesterton and Newcastle-under-Lyme, and while in America he played for Philadelphia Hibernians. As an adult he played in the first division for Stoke, and was in the Port Vale team which knocked Sheffield United, then the top English team, out of the F.A. Cup competition of 1897/8.

It is a wonder that Boullemier had time for Gilbert and Sullivan, but it appears that his love of performing became more important as he got older. In February 1923 Boullemier took the part of Don Alhambra in the North Staffordshire Amateur Operatic Society production of The Gondoliers at short notice. According to two reviews from the Stoke Sentinel, reproduced on the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive webpages, he was a resounding success as the Grand Inquisitor. This production was at the Grand Theatre in Hanley (one of the Staffordshire pottery towns), but it is known that Boullemier played Shadbolt in The Yeomen of the Guard at the Theatre Royal in the same town some time between 1924 and 1928. (Could the name of the theatre be the reason for the inclusion of a royal crest on the lip of the jug ?). He also played Squire Western in Tom Jones at Hanley in 1924, and while working at Maling took the role of Shadbolt again, this time at the Empire Theatre in Chester-le-Street, County Durham in 1928.

It is highly likely then, that this jug was decorated by Lucien Boullemier at home, as a gift for a friend. It is beyond belief that he made one for each of the principals in the opera, as the amount of work involved would have been immense. I suspect that it may have been a gift for the director, or for a family member, and is therefore unique. It is impossible at this stage to say whether the piece was fired at Soho, Maling, New Hall, or another of the factories where Boullemier was employed. The shape of the piece (it is called a "Dutch" jug) is a traditional one, dating back before the C19th, and variations on this shape would have been produced by most of the major factories. At Maling the shape is called "Clayton", but it should have a projecting spur on the handle which is absent from this example. However, it is extremely likely that Boullemier would have taken a blank from the design studio, so there is no reason why the jug would have to be a shape actually used in production at Maling. Maybe this was a trial shape, produced as an experiment to see how the Clayton shape would look after removal of the spur ?

Exactly when and where this jug was produced could be the subject of further research. However, it remains a fascinating piece of G&S memorabilia which, while relating to an amateur performance, was created by one of the top ceramic designers of his day. Whereas his designs were produced by the thousand in printed versions, this is a piece created by his own hand.

Lucien Boullemier died on 15th January 1948, at Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire.