Images(2)

1975-92 Shown with 1973-231. D2008-CMD. Mugs

Tankard

Date1740-1780

OriginEngland, Derbyshire or Nottingham

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

DimensionsOverall: 5 1/8 x 3 1/4 x 4 3/4in. (13 x 8.3 x 12.1cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1973-231

DescriptionBrown salt-glazed stoneware (Nottingham-type) tankard with metallic brown wash. Straight sided with band of grog and band of vertical fluting. Slightly spreading foot. Extruded ribbed handle applied at band of grog and fluted band with pinched terminal.
Label TextAmong the many forms recovered from excavation sites, thinly potted straight-sided tankards and baluster-shaped mugs predominate in the category of Nottingham-type drinking vessels.

Archaeological evidence at Mount Vernon documents the use of such brown stoneware tankards at the main house circa 1745–1755. Undecorated Nottinghamwares were present in eighteenth-century America in great quantities, as witnessed by a simple baluster mug recovered from the Hubbard House lot in Williamsburg, but there was also a penchant for ornamentation. Tankards and mugs like this one with bands of fluting, bread crumbs (also called potter’s waste or grog), or roulette decoration alone or in combination were hugely popular during the mid- to late-eighteenth century (see also 1975-92). Examples of drinking vessels embellished in this manner have been excavated from sites throughout the colonies.
ProvenancePurchasd from Jellinek & Sampson Antiques, London

Exhibition(s)