Objects
Tumbler, Cup
Alcohol
Consumption
Healths, pledging, and drinking rituals
[Taken from catalogue entry]
Charles II delft caudle cup, bearing the head and shoulders of Charles II, and the inscription C 2 R, with a D above and the date 1660.
Ceramics were a popular medium for royal portraits. Cups, bottles and other ceramics were used widely in households and taverns. The image is very simple and is probably derived from a contemporary print.
Small colourful mugs painted with portraits of Charles II must be among the earliest of commercial British commemorative wares. They were probably meant both for display and for drinking. The cup shaped form seems to have been exclusively used in England by the London delft potters.
These mugs never appear in inventories or product lists of these potters, and therefore must have formed a very small proportion of output. They would have been cheap to buy, yet their decoration ensured they were less used than others, and have therefore survived in greater numbers (see refs).
Though this is described as a caudle cup, it would be an unusual example to only have one handle, as the form is generally with two.
Caudle was a hot, spicy drink of ale or wine whisked with egg yolk. During the seventeenth century, the term was also used to mean a sauce of sack, butter and eggs for use in pies.
[Whilst caudle cup is the modern identification, there is nothing on the object to suggest it was used for this purpose, so the more inclusive terms 'cup' and 'tumbler' have been preferred in this instance]
References:
Comparable example in the Victoria and Albert Museum, C.85-1947. http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O21224/cup-unknown/ [viewed 27 June 2013].
Three comparable examples are shown in the online collections of Museum of London, as two caudle cups and a mug.
http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/Collections-Research/Collections-online/object.aspx?objectID=object-112521&start=0&rows=1 (59.16)
http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/Collections-Research/Collections-online/object.aspx?objectID=object-112520&start=1&rows=1 (46.78/581)
http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/Collections-Research/Collections-online/object.aspx?objectID=object-112479&start=3&rows=1 (A4946)
[all viewed 3 July 2013].
Another caudle cup was sold by Christie’s New York, at Sale 2388, 26 January 2010, lot 347. http://www.artvalue.com/auctionresult--delft-a-london-dated-portrait-caudle-2555884.htm [viewed 3 July 2013].
A further comparable example is in the collection of the Winterthur Museum (1954.536). http://uncorked.winterthur.org/politics-patriotism/british-monarchy/ [viewed on 3 July 2013].
Also see:
Michael Archer, Delftware in the Fitzwilliam Museum (London: Philip Wilson Publishers, 2013), no. C.17, p. 169.
Aileen Dawson, English and Irish Delftware 1570-1840 (London: The British Museum Press, 2010), Nos. 2 & 3, pp. 32 – 33. Slightly larger than D.O.C/15, and thought to hold a pint.
Louis Lipski and Michael Archer, Dated English Delftware (London: Sotheby Publications, 1984), pl. VIII; nos. 746 – 765, pp. 166 – 170.
Michael Archer, Delftware. The Tin-Glazed Earthenware of the British Isles: a catalogue of the collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum (London: HMSO, in association with the Victoria and A37lbert Museum, 1997), pl. 169, C.9, p. 246.
General:
Angela McShane, ‘Subjects and Objects: Material Expressions of Love and Loyalty in Seventeenth-Century England’ in Journal of British Studies Vol 48 (Oct 2009) 871-886.
Production
Dates of Production: 1660
London, England
Materials
Earthenware
Earthenware- white
Museological Details
D.O.C/15
This image is subject to copyright. The holding collection has given permission to reproduce this image on this website.