Princess Charlotte's death in childbirth in November 1817 triggered a genuinely enormous public outpouring of grief across Britain — she'd been next in line to the throne after her father, the future George IV, and her sudden death at just 21 left the succession in real disarray, which is part of why the mourning around her felt so widespread and so immediate. Staffordshire and Liverpool potteries responded quickly with commemorative wares, and this gravy boat is a good example of that response: Britannia shown mourning at a tomb, flanked by a globe and weeping angels, printed in black beneath the inscription "TO THE MEMORY OF PRINCESS CHARLOTTE."
Puce lustre banding runs across the piece, a colour and technique commonly paired with mourning wares of this exact period, adding a soft metallic sheen to what's otherwise a fairly sombre design. The maker isn't confirmed, though the style points to either a Staffordshire or Liverpool workshop, both centres that were producing this kind of rapid-turnaround commemorative pottery in the years around 1817. A mourning-themed gravy boat is a slightly unusual object to have carried this kind of imagery, since so much surviving commemorative ware of this type takes the form of jugs or plates rather than table serving pieces.
Condition notes
Antique restorations, wear to lustre border, yellowing to body.
