Item number: P9

Year: AD 1910-1920

Material: Porcelain

Size: 9 x 8 x 9.3 cm

Provenance: Private Collector, UK, 2026

This is a porcelain fairing depicting two anthropomorphic pigs in a bed, probably manufactured in Germany for the British market during the late nineteenth or early twentieth century.

The model portrays a larger pig leaning over the side of a four-poster style bed towards a smaller pig lying beneath the bedclothes. The bed is moulded with rounded finials and decorative panels, while the reverse bears the moulded inscription:

“HUSH A BYE BABY DON’T YOU CRY. YOU’LL BE A SAUSAGE BYE AND BYE.”

The humorous verse is a parody of the traditional English lullaby Hush-a-Bye Baby, contrasting the comforting image of a parent soothing its young with the comic suggestion that the piglet will eventually become a sausage. This form of dark, playful humour was characteristic of many Victorian and Edwardian china fairings, which frequently combined familiar nursery rhymes, popular sayings, and anthropomorphic animals to amuse both adults and children.

This inscription is actually quite significant. Rather than being a random joke, it references a well-known nursery rhyme, making the fairing part of a broader tradition of Victorian novelty ceramics that adapted familiar verses into humorous scenes. Pieces with recognisable captions were especially popular because the viewer immediately understood the joke.

A fairing (more commonly called a china fairing) is a small glazed porcelain figurine or ornament that was originally given away as a prize (“fairing”) at travelling fairs in Britain and Europe during the nineteenth century.

The name “fairing” comes from the old English word fairing, meaning a gift or souvenir brought home from a fair. Over time, the term became associated specifically with these small porcelain ornaments, even though many were later sold in shops rather than awarded as prizes.

物件編號: P9

年代: 公元 1910-1920 年

材料: 陶瓷

尺寸: 9 x 8 x 9.3 cm

來源: 英國私人收藏 2026

這是一件描繪兩隻擬人化小豬共臥於床上的瓷製博覽會紀念瓷偶（China Fairing），推測為十九世紀末至二十世紀初德國製造，專為英國市場出口。

作品描繪一隻體型較大的小豬俯身靠向四柱床床側，望向躺在被褥下的一隻小豬。床體飾有圓形床柱飾頂及模製裝飾板，背面則模印有文字：

「HUSH A BYE BABY DON’T YOU CRY. YOU’LL BE A SAUSAGE BYE AND BYE.」
（「乖乖睡吧，寶寶別哭；總有一天，你會變成香腸。」）

這段詼諧的文字改編自英國傳統搖籃曲《Hush-a-Bye Baby》，將父母安撫孩子入睡的溫馨場景，與小豬終將被製成香腸的幽默寓意形成鮮明對比。這種帶有黑色幽默色彩的趣味表現，是維多利亞時代及愛德華時代博覽會紀念瓷偶的典型特色，常將耳熟能詳的童謠、俗語及擬人化動物結合，以博取成人與兒童的會心一笑。

此銘文具有相當重要的文化意義。它並非單純的玩笑，而是引用了家喻戶曉的英國童謠，使本件作品成為維多利亞時期新奇瓷器（Novelty Ceramics）的一部分。當時工匠經常將熟悉的童謠、歌謠及流行語轉化為幽默的立體場景，而帶有易於辨識文字內容的作品尤其受到歡迎，因觀者往往能立即理解其中的趣味與寓意。

所謂博覽會紀念瓷偶（China Fairing），是指一類小型上釉瓷製人偶或裝飾品，最初於十九世紀的英國及歐洲巡迴博覽會（Travelling Fairs）中作為獎品或紀念品贈送。

Fairing 一詞源自古英語，原意為「自博覽會帶回的禮物或紀念品」。隨著時間推移，此名稱逐漸專指這類小型瓷製裝飾品。雖然它們最初多作為博覽會獎品發放，但後來亦廣泛於商店販售，成為十九世紀末至二十世紀初深受歡迎的大眾裝飾瓷器。