Glass

Object Type
This tiny glass mug is a miniature replica of the glass mugs that were used for strong ale. Though quite impractical for use, it is made in the proper manner. The ribbing on the base was produced by partially dipping a hot bubble of glass into molten glass to increase its thickness, then inserted and blown in an open ribbed metal 'dip mould'. Finally, a ribbon of hot glass was applied and pincered to form the handle.

Historical Associations
The Frost Fairs occured six times between 1608 and 1814, with the very severe winters that froze the River Thames. A handful of poignant souvenirs survive from the winter of 1683-1684, which was particularly hard. The most important of them is certainly this small glass mug. It was probably engraved in one of the 'toy' booths on 'Temple Street', a row of temporary buildings and tents erected across the Thames. Coffee houses and taverns were built for shoppers and the spectators of several types of sport on the ice, which apparently included fox hunting and football. Souvenirs engraved 'while-you-wait', or woodcuts printed on a press set up on the ice, served as permanent remindes of an essentially ephemeral event.

Ownership & Use
This object has no practical function. Although it would have been called a 'toy' at the time it was acquired, it was never intended as a child's plaything. It may be seen as a souvenir and was probably taken back to the countryside for the owner to declare 'I was there'. Kept as an heirloom, it eventually became a collector's item at a picturesque country house in Shropshire, where it was known as the 'Pitchford Hall Cup'.