Objects
Mug- drinking
Alcohol
Consumption
[Taken from catalogue entry]
Stoneware mug with pierced decoration. Salt-glazed. The lower half has two walls, with the outer pierced and incised with floral shapes. The rim bears a silver mount.
Brown stoneware was first made in Germany during the Middle Ages and exported in huge quantities to England, mainly providing drinking vessels and containers for the tavern, kitchen and shop. As the tradition became established in England during the late 17th century a skilled potteries grew up around the Morley family in Nottingham. James Morley, a brick maker, took up salt-glazed wares in c.1690 and such was the reputation he achieved that 'Nottingham ware' was to become a generic term for the brown salt-glaze of the Midlands.
The Nottingham potteries continued for around a century but declined in the 18th century due to increasing competition (not least from Staffordshire) and a lack of local clays.The first patent for 'stoneware vulgarly called Cologne Ware? was taken out in 1672 by London potter, John Dwight. Dwight fiercely pursued all who he felt infringed his patents this included suing James Morley. However, Morley didn?t comply, his distance from London gave him a certain level of protection in an era where transport and travel was much more difficult than it is today. A trade card of James Morley dated c.1700 depicts several wares includes a mug bearing a very similar shape and design to this one.
Creator
James Morley
male
Potter
Production
Dates of Production: from 1695
to 1705
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England
Materials
Earthenware- stone
Earthenware
Metal- silver
Metal- plate
Museological Details
Stoneware mug with pierced decoration
Potteries Museum, Stoke-on-Trent
1935.P.293
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