Mug

Dateca. 1820

MediumGray salt-glazed stoneware

DimensionsHt. 7 1/16"; Diam. at foot: 3 7/8"; Diam. at lip: 3 3/8".

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1999.900.2

DescriptionGray salt-glazed stoneware mug of cylindrical form with flat base and gently sloping shoulder tapering to plain circulr rim. Simple C-scroll handle with elongated oval juncture at lower terminal. Small circular hold on top of handle near upper juncture (probably intended as a fixture point for a pewter thumb piece and lid). Interior of mug coated with an orange-brown Albany slip. Exterior of mug decorated in cobalt blue with a narrow band at the base and on the shoulder at the upper handle juncture. Opposite the handle, covering approximately one-third of the circumference of the mug, a checkerboard pattern in cobalt blue extends from band to band. The checkerboard pattern terminates on either side with a curving vertical line.Label TextThis mug is evidence of just how influential long-standing German traditions were on American potters. Made in New York State, this piece is decorated like many eighteenth-century German mugs and jugs. The shaping of the rim and the hole punched in the top of the handle suggest this mug was intended to be fitted with a metal lid similar to that on the Wingender jug. This German custom was not used on English or most American stoneware.