Designed by Lewis Foreman Day
English, 1845 ‑ 1910
Decorated by Alexander Fisher, Sr.
English, born 1837
Made by Torquay Terra‑Cotta Company, Torquay, England
Vases, about 1878
Earthenware
17 3/8 × 8 1/4 in. (44.1 × 21 cm.) (a)
17 3/4 × 8 1/2 in. (45.1 × 21.6 cm.) (b)
Purchased with funds from the Alice Speed Stoll Accessions Trust  2009.6.2 a,b

Sunlight and Moonlight
Lewis Day chose to use idealized, youthful women to visually symbolize innocence and introspection. The figure representing innocence gazes skyward, contemplating a pair of flitting butterflies. Introspection is portrayed by the figure of a young woman with heavy-lidded eyes, deep in thought and gesturing to the sky where a full moon illuminates the scene. Day respectively titled his pair of vases Sunlight and Moonlight. For centuries, many artists (usually male) have projected virtues, and sometimes vices, onto their female subjects.