Wedgwood pays tribute to the fine arts with a frieze of four muses circling this jasper ware amphora.  This footed amphora shape vase is executed in black jasper dip creating a sharp, crisp contrast with the white sprig decoration. 
Two classical figures decorate each side of the vase while trees located at the handles separate front from back. On one side, Erato, muse of amorous poetry is shown with Melpomene, muse of tragedy.  On the reverse, Terpsicore, muse of choral dance is shown with Thalia, muse of comedy.   Trophy groups entwined in a laurel wreath are suspended from ribbon on each side of the neck.   A band of laurel and berries trims the shoulder, while acanthus detail decorates the base of each handle and the foot.  A simple circle of vertical laurel leaves sets off the base of the amphora where it attaches to the foot.

Various combinations of the nine muses--with or without Apollo--appear as Wedgwood relief subjects from the eighteenth into the twentieth centuries. While they may seem anonymous to the modern viewer, classically educated collectors would have identified the figures by the symbolic objects or attributes they carry.

The attributes appearing in this depiction are:  the lyre (for Erato, muse of amorous poetry); Mask and club of Hercules (for Melpomene, tragedy), lyre and plectrum (for Terpsichore, dance), and mask and shepherd's crook (Thalia, comedy).