While plaid Harlequin figures occasionally appear on earthenware jugs, in general Commedia dell'arte figures seldom turn up on transfer-printed tablewares. This rarity factor adds distinction to the obvious charm of this pearlware cup and saucer with its image of Pierrot as a despondent--or perhaps only sleepily negligent--shepherd.

The white-clad figure of Pierrot slumps in the shade of a weeping willow. The crook that has slipped from his grasp tells us that his flock remains unattended, and the presence of Cupid peering over the shoulder of the perpetually love sick clown gives a clue to the cause of the problem. Two placid sheep, however, seem in no hurry to escape from the idyllic tableau.

The willow tree traditionally sets a mood of melancholy. The prominent ruins in the landscape suggests an Italian setting, appropriate for a commedia character. A conventional floral garland serves the border.

While the Pierrot character started out as a laughable buffoon knocked about by love--or by the physical blows of his fellow players, around the eighteenth century the sympathetic image of "poor Pierrot" emerged. The shift is best expressed by Watteau's sublime masterpiece "Pierrot" (or "Giles") in the Louvre. Later Pierrot's misfit status made him into an anti-hero for the existentialist generation.

For the 1820's tea sipper, however, the sad clown simply provided a bit of imaginative pastoral romance.