'Frog' mug, earthenware with printed decoration and glazed, manufactured by Coloroll, Kilncraft, Staffordshire, England, ca. 1985.

Mug of white earthenware with opaque white glaze, cylindrical with loop handle, with printed decoration in two greens, red and pale blue depicting a pool scene with frog and lily, with the caption “Sold in Aid of WWF” and the World Wildlife Fund logo.

Given by Jennifer Opie, Paul Greenhalgh and Oliver Watson

Sold in aid of the World Wildlife Fund.

Given by a colleague to Jennifer Opie, curator in the Ceramics Section, and used as a general coffee mug in the Ceramics Section for a number of years.

Part of a large collection of mugs acquired in 1991. This group [C.84 to 105-1991] were brought together from various sources and were presented by the donors - the Curator and Deputy Curators of the Ceramics and Glass Section. The collection aims to illustrate the various uses of the 'Mug as bearer of message' over the past decade.

Mugs have continued to gain popularity for use in the home and designers have been concerned to make the mug more attractive and acceptable to middle class tastes. Due to their straight-sided cylindrical shape, mugs are a convenient format for design and decoration in many styles. In the 1980s they have become like generic conveyors of style messages and are marketed in the same way T-shirts and greeting cards - the decoration on these examples would be sucessful on any of these media.

C.90-1991