Jug commemorating John Batman
1934
- Artist/s name
- PREMIER POTTERY, Preston, Melbourne (manufacturer)
PAMELA ware (range)
- Medium
- earthenware
- Measurements
- 12.3 x 13.1 x 10.4 cm
- Accession Number
- D74-1986
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Catherine Webb, 1986
- Gallery Location
- Not on display
To this day, the identity of the founder of Melbourne remains in dispute. Both John Batman and John Fawkner sailed from Tasmania in 1835 to establish a settlement around Port Phillip Bay but it was Batman who proposed making a ‘treaty’ with the local inhabitants for the use of their land.
This jug commemorating Batman was made by Premier Pottery, which was established in the late 1920s by David Dee at 52 Oakover Road, Preston. Dee ran the factory together with his son, Walter, and a partner, Reg Hawkins, who had trained as a decorator in one of the potteries in the south of England. The factory’s wares were popular, especially in the 1930s, filling the gap between studio pottery and commercial production. All were in fact handmade.
