Artifact: “Melon ware” Green Glazed Mug
Materials: earthenware
Dimensions:
Date: 1760-80
Origin:
Collection: The Smithsonian
License: Fair Use
Ledger Entry: Stoneware Mug
Department: Foodways
Customer: Brigantine Fairfax
Ledger Page: 160
Imported From: When imported, earthenware typically came from Britain, particularly from the pottery districts of Staffordshire.
Product Description
Mugs were vessels used for drinking beverages. They could be simply adorned or lavishly decorated. The bright green glaze of the mug pictured was a novelty made possible by avid experimentation by British potters to make thinner clay bodies and brighter more controlled decoration by the mid eighteenth century.
Citation: Philippa Glanville and Hilary Young, ed., Elegant Eating: Four Hundred Years of Dining in Style, (London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2002).;
Historical Price: 9 pence; Modern USD: $8.41
Product Variations
The databases record eight purchases of mugs. These came in either one or two quart sizes. Only one mug was qualified as stone(ware), while none of the other mugs had qualifiers, the low price of either six or nine pence indicates varying ceramic types. The difference in price does not correspond with the size of the mug.
