Pitcher, 10.5 inches tall. Blue transfer. Printed maker's mark for Whittaker & Co. As the pattern name suggests, this pattern features a swan in the water framed by cattails in the foreground. In the background is the shore with a cottage under cloudy skies with flying birds in the distance. This scene is repeated on the opposite side of the pitcher. The border consists of alternating vertical bands with horizontal stripes and circular quadruplets. The handle features line of stylized leaves and berries in clumps of three.

Whittaker & Co. was a brief series of partnerships of earthenware manufacturers, operating the Hallfield Pottery, built in 1882) in Hanley, Staffordshire. The original partners were Lewis Whittaker, James Edge, Samuel Heath, John Henry Weatherby, and Robert Rowley. Whittaker, Edge & Co: 1882-1886. Whittaker & Co: 1886-1892. Whittaker, Heath & Co: 1892-1898.