Mug
Date1731 (dated)
OriginEngland, London
MediumTin-glazed earthenware (delft / delftware)
DimensionsH: 7"; (17.8 cm),
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1954-436
DescriptionCylindrical mug with molded rim, molded flared foot, and strap loop handle with a scroll base terminal. White tin glaze decorated in blue with the arms of the London Company of Gardeners and the inscription "SSM 1731."Label TextThis delft mug is decorated with the arms of the London Company of Gardeners and the inscription "SSM / 1731." Although the arms of the Gardeners' Company were not officially granted until the twentieth century, they were used in this form after the company was chartered in the early seventeenth century, when it had control over "the trade, craft, or mystery of gardening, planting, grafting, setting, sowing, cutting, arboring, rocking, mounting, covering, fencing, and removing plants, herbs, seeds, fruits, stocks, sets and of contriving the conveyance to the same belonging." Unlike about three-quarters of the arms of companies on English delft, the device on this mug incorporates the crest (a basket of flowers) and the supporters (women holding cornucopias filled with flowers) as well as the coat of arms. The London attribution is based on the glaze and the arms of a London company.
InscribedArms of the London Company of Gardeners and the inscription "SsM 1731"
MarkingsNone
ProvenanceGinsbury & Levy, Inc., New York
