Objects
Mug- drinking
Alcohol
Consumption
Caffeine consumption
[Taken from catalogue entry]
This type of vitrified, unglazed stoneware was inspired by the wares produced by the Chinese potters of Yixing. The tea wares were first introducing to the European market through the Dutch tea trade with China. Dutch potters were soon involved in producing their own copies of these wares from the mid 17th Century. The first successful commercial exploitation of red stoneware in Britain is credited to the Elers Brothers.
The brothers, of German extraction, had settled in Holland before moving to England in the 1680s to trade luxury goods in the London market. John and David Elers and were versatile craftsmen and business men, first practising as silversmiths before moving into the pottery industry. In around 1690 the brothers established works at Bradwell Wood, Staffordshire, close to good deposits of red clay. The wares produced were a very fine stoneware with a dense, red, semi-vitrified body. Although the venture lasted less than ten years, the Elers are remembered for their quality wares, technical refinements and are credited as a stimulating influence on the Staffordshire industry of the time. The Elers worked with a high degree of secrecy at their works in Bradwell. This has encouraged the spread of certain myths and stories, the historical accuracy of which is difficult to confirm. One commonly cited tale involves the Elers only employing simple-minded workers. Two local potters, Astbury and Twyford, desperate to discover the Elers? secrets, are said to have feigned idiocy in order to access the works.
Creator
John Elers
male
Potter
Production
Dates of Production: from 1695
to c. 1705
Bradwell Wood, Staffordshire, England
Materials
Earthenware
Museological Details
Red stoneware mug with three bands of relief decoration
Potteries Museum, Stoke-on-Trent
1954.P.50
This image is subject to copyright. The holding collection has given permission to reproduce this image on this website.