A creamware mug, circa 1770-80
A creamware mug, circa 1770-80
Probably North Eastern, possibly North Hylton Pottery, cylindrical with a slightly spreading foot and a distinctive grooved handle with an upwards kick to the lower terminal, painted in colours with two men in a coal barge flaked by buildings in iron red, inscribed 'Philip Reed Master Metter of Maldon', 14.1cm (cracks)
Sold for £2,500 inc. premium

Footnotes

  • Illustrated and discussed by Tom Walford, Early Creamware from North East England, Creamware and Pearlware Re-Visited (2005), p 102. The coal barge or Newcastle keel boat is similar to those depicted on a 1745 view of Newcastle by Nathaniel Buck, illustrated at p.87. The use of sombre colours is reminiscent of the Nancy Dawson coffee pot, lot 50 in this sale and it seems likely this mug was made and decorated in the Newcastle area. The surname Reed is local to the North East and coal from there was brought down the east cost and up the River Blackwater to be landed at Maldon. The word 'metter' is another name for a 'coal meter', a customs officer whose job was to certify coal for the purpose of collecting customs duties. The distinctive moulded handle is similar to that on the coffee pot and cover, lot 51, and to a mug in the Willett Collection possibly linked to the Maling family, see Tom Walford, op cit, pp.103-104. See also Tom Walford's NCS paper, Newsletter No.157, where the present lot is illustrated at p.6, figs.2 and 3.

Auction Notices

  • Please not that the handle on this mug has been restored

Category: Decorative Arts / British Ceramics


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