Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Silver, Room 68, The Whiteley Galleries

Gorge Mug

1683-1684 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This mug is a very rare example of a silver vessel copying a ceramic form. This particular form (known as the gorge form), with globular body and cylindrical neck was ultimately derived from the design of larger 16th century German stoneware ale mugs. In the late 17th century, a smaller version was copied in a number of materials including silver, glass, western stonewares and oriental porcelain. The decoration on the neck of this silver mug copies the wheel turned decoration on the ceramic examples. With this acquisition the V&A becomes the only museum in Britain where the widest range of materials copying the ceramic version can be seen.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Silver
Brief description
Silver gorge mug, London hallmarks for 1683-4, mark of George Garthorne.
Physical description
Silver gorge mug with spherical body opening to cylindrical reeded neck with silver wire handle in form of S-scroll, decorated with flatchased chinoiserie design of two warriors standing within exotic flowers and leaves.
Dimensions
  • Height: 8.8cm
  • With handle width: 11cm
  • Diameter: 8.3cm
  • Weight: 213g
  • Weight: 6.17troy
Marks and inscriptions
  • Full hallmarks for London 1683-4 (On the base)
  • Mark of George Garthorne
  • Scratch weight of 7.1.0
  • 'A:H' (Incised)
Credit line
Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2005
Historical context
This mug is a very rare example of a silver vessel copying a ceramic form. This particular form (known as a gorge form), with globular body and cylindrical neck was ultimately derived from the design of larger 16th century German stoneware ale mugs. In the late 17th century, a smaller version was copied in a number of materials including silver, glass, western stonewares and oriental porcelain. The decoration on the neck of this silver mug copies the wheel turned decoration on the ceramic examples. With this acquisition the V&A becomes the only Museum in Britain where the widest range of materials copying the ceramic version can be seen. The silver mug is on show in the Designs case in gallery 68 with a ceramic prototype
Summary
This mug is a very rare example of a silver vessel copying a ceramic form. This particular form (known as the gorge form), with globular body and cylindrical neck was ultimately derived from the design of larger 16th century German stoneware ale mugs. In the late 17th century, a smaller version was copied in a number of materials including silver, glass, western stonewares and oriental porcelain. The decoration on the neck of this silver mug copies the wheel turned decoration on the ceramic examples. With this acquisition the V&A becomes the only museum in Britain where the widest range of materials copying the ceramic version can be seen.
Bibliographic reference
Robin Hildyard, Gorges across the Centuries Antique Collecting , Sept. 1999, p.10-15
Collection
Accession number
M.28-2005

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Record createdFebruary 9, 2004
Record URL
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