Images(10)

Souvenir Mug

Dateca. 1820

Attributed to Enoch Wood & Sons

OriginEngland, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Burslem

MediumLead-glazed earthenware (china glaze / pearlware)

DimensionsOverall: (Height) 2 13/16 × (Diameter - foot) 2 3/4 × (Diameter - mouth) 2 1/2 x (Length - handle to foot) 3 1/2in. (7.1 × 7 × 8.9cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, C. Thomas Hamlin III Fund

Object number2019-114

DescriptionSouvenir mug or child’s cup: stepped slightly flared foot rises to straight sided cup with single ear-shaped loop handle applied to side; transfer printed with landscape depicting rare double portrait of potter Enoch Wood and his son astride horses, trees, a dog, pottery with smoking kilns in the background, and a church with spire; the handle, rim, and foot decorated with bands of silver luster.
Label TextDepictions of potters, pottery owners, and potteries are rare. This little mug is transfer printed with all three, the print sources most likely derived from trade cards and invoice headers used by Enoch Wood (1759-1840). The son of modeler Aaron Wood and a cousin of Ralph Wood, Enoch began early learning all aspects of the pottery business and even having apprenticeships with Josiah Wedgwood and Humphry Palmer. Enoch Wood was not only a potter and pottery owner, he became one of the wealthiest people in Burslem, England, by the beginning of the 19th century. In his history of the potteries (1829), Simeon Shaw dubbed him the “Father of the Potteries;” and he was known not only for his wealth, but also for his great philanthropy. Enoch was an antiquarian at heart and opened a museum in which he sought to tell the story of his region through the potteries and their products. When Enoch took his sons into business (1817) he made many wares, but is especially remembered for the dark blue transfer printed dishes which were very popular in the American market. Throughout his life Enoch Wood remained an avid proponent of the young United States. Fragments of his dishes, often depicting American scenes, turn up on many early 19th century sites in America.
ProvenancePurchased from Robert R. Hunter Jr. (2019).