With a voluptuousness only made respectable by its association with classical mythology, Samuel Alcock presents nude Ariadne riding, or rather reclining elegantly, atop a sleek panther--clearly at one of the high points of the somewhat rough and tumble life of the princess. After betraying her father by helping Theseus slay the Minotaur, Ariadne fled with Theseus only to have the feckless hero abandon her on the island of Naxos. Luckily she was discovered there by Dionysus, god of wine, who made her his bride. We catch a glimpse of what may have been her bridal procession--since panthers are often depicted at bacchanalian events.

On Alcock's jug no background details are allowed to detract from the impact of Ariadne's beauty; the princess and her ride appear in dramatically stark isolation against an uninterrupted ground of Alcock's famous lavender. The reverse shows us the backside of the group--including of course Ariadne's "backside."

The only other ornamentation is appropriately a grapevine, in white relief across the neck of the jug and in blind relief on the jug's rustic handle.