Till's detailed narrative jug depicts two decisive events in the Old Testament accounts of...

Till's detailed narrative jug depicts two decisive events in the Old Testament accounts of King David. 

On one side, from First Samuel, Chapter 17, David accomplishes the fatal defeat of the Philistine giant Goliath, brought low by the shepherd's skill with the sling shot. On the reverse, from Second Samuel, Chapter 11, David the King is shown caught up in his guilty passion for Bathsheba, wife of his captain, Uriah. In a curious compression of time, the severed head of Goliath, slain in David's youth, is shown at the feet of the adult lovers.

Till creates a sense of monumentality with the scale of his figures--large in relation to the jug size--and enhances the story-telling quality with details of exotic palm foliage and Middle Eastern tents. The textured ground adds to the impression of carved relief sculpture.

The more one looks at relief molded jugs, the more one notes how potters influenced one an...

The more one looks at relief molded jugs, the more one notes how potters influenced one another. Till's "David and Goliath" recalls Alcock's "Cain and Abel" (available on this site) not only in its Biblical subject, but in the struggling figure group, the exotic foliage details, the orange peel textured ground, and even the tall profile of the footed form. One can also observe strikingly similar manipulation of the palm motif in Alcock's "Camel" and Mayer's "Paul and Virginia" (both also in stock.) Imitation, often seen as flattery, also seems to have been a favorite competition strategy among potters.