Victorian Mugs

Victorian pottery & porcelain mugs…

These delightful pieces of Social History are glimpses of people from throughout the 19th century. Made by the majority of ceramic makers, they were sometimes custom-orders at the factory, other times gilded with custom names and dates at the High-Street china dealers who marketed them. 

The various dates are a great way of seeing the styles and colours of the various decades – note ‘Auntie Jenny’s’ 1906 present to ‘Walter’, which is nowhere near the quality of ‘James Christisen’s’ from 40 years earlier. 

Traditionally they were a birth present – the name & date recording for posterity a person’s year of birth. Others must have been special presents for special friends, such as  ‘William Edward Pickels – Christmas – 1855’ .

Others are simply fun -the best example we have ever seen is below, where Mr ‘John Wooley’ had a mug made for him, perhaps by friends who knew his habits very well:

“No Tongue can tell,

No heart can think. 

Oh how I love

A drop of Drink” !