Whilst doing a little study of Staffordshire Pottery figures a couple of years ago, I set aside the image of this double handled mug because of its "cultural improbability" ... i mean that it didn't fit in with my conceptual understanding of the place of suicide in public discourse ...
i didn't realize that thomas cooper was a famous CHARTIST ...
i doubt he was a likeable man which is probably why he is largely forgotten ...
A boring poet, a worse novelist, holder of contradictory and dogmatic beliefs. Difficult to like. Easy to antagonize.
And yet the working classes of the Potteries gave him this in gratitude for changing their lives and expectations.
here are some references
