Weller/Gamp relief tankard in a small size produced by Lancaster and Sandland of Hanley, England, circa 1950. Tony Weller, the coach driver and repository of Cockney wisdom, is a popular character from Charles Dickens' "Pickwick Papers", first published in 1836. He is the father of Sam Weller, Mr. Pickwick's manservant. Experience of life has turned him into something of a philosopher, mistrustful of "vidder" and a staunch believer in the virtue of a "haliby." Sairey Gamp, the disreputable and garrulous nurse in the 1843 novel, "Martin Chuzzlewit", is one of Charles Dickens' greatest comic creations. "A fat old widow with a husky voice and a moist eye, it was difficult to enjoy her society without becoming conscious of a smell of spirits." Mrs. Gamp has the responsible job of midwife, watcher of the dying and 'performer of nameless offices about the persons of the dead." Necessary to her calling she has "a face for all occasions," and "She went to a lying-in or a laying-out with equal zest and relish." She is famous for her excessive drinking habits and also for her large untidy umbrella, which has given rise to the word "gamp" to describe such an article. A lamp post forms the handle of the jug.
Maker:
Lancaster and Sandland
England
circa 1950
Model #:
566
Derivative
pitcher
Size:
small
Height:
3"
