Mug thumbnail 1
Mug thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 139, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

Mug

ca. 1770 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Mug of porcelain painted with enamels and gilded, and cylindrical in shape with a loop handle, and in the front is a shield with the arms of Martindale of Cumberland, with a charged barry of six argent and gules, over all a bend sable, and of rococo form, surrounded by scrollwork and bunches of grapes with foliage, and supported by a boy with a blue scarf thrown over one shoulder, holding in his right hand a rod twined about with vine, and a ribbon below the shield bears the motto 'MERITE FORTUNE', and bouquets and sprays of flowers in rich gilding are distributed over the remaining surface.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Porcelain painted with enamels and gilded
Brief description
Mug of porcelain painted with enamels and gilded, and cylindrical in shape with a loop handle, and in the front is a shield with the arms of Martindale of Cumberland, made by Worcester porcelain factory, Worcester, ca. 1770.
Physical description
Mug of porcelain painted with enamels and gilded, and cylindrical in shape with a loop handle, and in the front is a shield with the arms of Martindale of Cumberland, with a charged barry of six argent and gules, over all a bend sable, and of rococo form, surrounded by scrollwork and bunches of grapes with foliage, and supported by a boy with a blue scarf thrown over one shoulder, holding in his right hand a rod twined about with vine, and a ribbon below the shield bears the motto 'MERITE FORTUNE', and bouquets and sprays of flowers in rich gilding are distributed over the remaining surface.
Dimensions
  • Height: 14.9cm
  • Diameter: 10.2cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'I M' (Under the bottom, in ornamental characters)
  • 'April. 5th 1770' (Under the bottom in gold)
  • 'MERITE FORTUNE' (On the ribbon beneath the shield)
Credit line
Given by Lady Charlotte Schreiber
Object history
Purchased by Lady Charlotte Schreiber from Carter, London, for £15 in March 1879
Production
In a lecture delivered at the Dorchester Ceramic Fair in 1984 Robert Charleston attributed the decoration of this mug to the London workshop of James Giles, partly on stylistic grounds and in part based the record of Mr Martindale having purchased several 'parcels' of china and glass from James Giles between 1771 and 1774.
Subjects depicted
Other number
Sch. I 573 - Schreiber number
Collection
Accession number
414:573-1885

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Record createdJanuary 23, 2009
Record URL
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