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Mug

Mug

  • Place of origin:

    London, England (made)

  • Date:

    1680-1690 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Glass, with mould-blown ribbed base and white glass trailing

  • Museum number:

    C.168-1993

  • Gallery location:

    British Galleries, room 56d, case 13

  • Download image

Object Type
Small globular mugs with ribbed necks of this form were made in the last quarter of the 17th century exclusively for drinking strong ale. The V&A collections include a similar example, datable to about 1676-7 and marked with the raven's head seal of the English glassmaker George Ravenscroft (1632-1681).

Design & Designing
The form of this small ale mug was not so much designed as inherited from its larger imported German brown stoneware predecessors. Just as drinking glasses had lost most of their Venetian influence by 1700, so these little German-derived globular mugs disappeared at the same time, to be replaced by the typically English 'dwarf ale', a small trumpet-shaped glass which, apart from its distinctive short stem, could be confused with a jelly glass.

Place of Origin

London, England (made)

Date

1680-1690 (made)

Artist/maker

Unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Glass, with mould-blown ribbed base and white glass trailing

Dimensions

Height: 9.8 cm, Width: 9.9 cm including handle, Depth: 7.2 cm

Object history note

Made in London

Descriptive line

Mug, England (London), , 1680-1690, C.168-1993 .

Labels and date

British Galleries:
LEAD-GLASS DRINKING VESSELS

By the 1680s lead glass was common and cheap enough to provide souvenir toys, such as the tiny glass celebrating the Frost Fair on the River Thames in London. At the same time it was grand enough for the giant ceremonial goblets that were passed around a company of drinkers. The jelly and sweetmeat glasses, dwarf ale glasses and globular mugs for strong ale were typical of the wider range of table glass that was produced from the late 17th century. 'State Glasses & Covers' were listed in the Hampton Court inventory as late as 1736. Such grand goblets were sometimes used as chalices for communion. [27/03/2003]

Categories

Ceramics; British Galleries

Collection code

CER

Download image
Qr_O2930
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