Images(6)

Carved Mug

Dateca. 1700

Artist/Maker James Morley

OriginEngland, Nottingham

MediumStoneware, salt-glazed, brown (metallic brown wash)

DimensionsOverall: 3 15/16 x 3 13/16 x 3 1/8in. (10 x 9.7 x 7.9cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1958-529

DescriptionCarved jug of brown, globular double walled body with cylindrical horizontally reeded neck; loop handle with diagonal reeding; and on outer wall, sprays of cut-out flower heads and incised leaves and stems.
Label TextSmall yet unmistakable shards of another type of distinctive brown stoneware were excavated from the Drummond plantation site. The fragments have not been cross mended, but they are from a pierced double-walled teacup. The form is unknown among extant objects, although similarly fashioned gorges (1958-529) have been attributed to James Morley’s Nottingham pottery. The association of pierced wares with this potter and locale is based on a trade card issued by Morley around 1700. It depicts a decanter and “mogg,” or straight-sided tankard and a flowerpot, teapot, “capuchine,” or coffee cup, and jug. The last four items were carved, that is, constructed as double-walled vessels with foliate piercing cut through the outer walls of the pieces. The technique, which demands considerable skill in both throwing and carving, may be derived from Chinese porcelain decorated in the so-called “Ling Lung” method of pierced decoration. The Drummond carved shards are the only examples of this technique in brown stoneware found in America to date.
ProvenancePurchased from M. F. Phillips, Milford Lodge, England

Exhibition(s)