| People tend to make the mistake of calling any antique drinking vessel a tankard, but the drinking vessel pictured here is not a tankard ~ it is a mug. A tankard is a lidded mug. Since this mug does not have a lid attached by a hinge to the handle, it cannot be considered a tankard. What it can be considered, though, is that it was used in a tavern, hence the name tavern mug. This mug is shaped like a truncated cone, and the design gives it a resemblance a having a couple horizontal bands stretched around it, and therefore the descriptive name of two-band is given to it. The handle is of the design known as "oozy tongue and pip". Engraved in script within the top 'band' on the front of the mug is the name and date "The House of Whitbread 1742". This refers to the brewery estabished in London in the year 1742 by Samuel Whitbread and Thomas Shewell. In the same way that modern mugs might be engraved or printed with the name of a modern brewery, such as Michelob or Busch, the engraved reference to Whitbread was probably nothing more than an advertising ploy. Below that, in the bottom 'band' is the name "D. Morgan" engraved in block capitals. That name probaby refers to the owner of the mug (variously, the owner of the tavern in which the mug was used). Identifying marks are not evident, therefore an accurate date cannot be determined. The item appears to be from at least the 1800s. |
