Mug, white earthenware with printed decoration and glazed, manufactured by Biltons Ltd., England, ca. 1985.

White earthenware mug with opaque white glaze, brown glaze at rim, cylindrical form with loop handle. Printed in black with an image of a potter hand-throwing at his wheel in his workshop, with a kiln and rows of wares, including two large cider bottles, captioned "Pottery".

Given by Maxwell S. Watson, Esq.

This mug belonged to Max Watson, brother of the Curator of the Ceramics and Glass Section who works as a municipal gardener in Stourbridge. The mugs were in regular use by him, but the "Pottery" one was slightly more special, kept on a wooden mug-stand where other treasured mugs were kept (such as a World Wild-life mug and Maxwell House coffee mugs - a reference to the owner's name). It formed part of a series of 'rural pursuits' including basket-making and chair-making which the owner also possessed.

It is of interest in the context of the mug project for the explicit use of an image of traditional hand-making on what is clearly an industrial product. This irony did not worry the donor, even when pointed out to him, even though he particularly liked the mug for the traditional values and life-style conjured up by the image it bore.

He liked the Pearson Stoneware mug for its chunkiness and hand-made feel, and again did not worry (even if he had noticed) that it was an industrial product. The few hand-made mugs by studio potters which the donor did posses were even more treasured and were only used on special occasions.

C.152-1991