Mocha ware tavern mug, c.1850

This small cylinder form mocha ware tavern mug was made in England in the mid-1800s and stands just 4 inches tall. It is decorated with blue & black bands and a broad teal ground with a bold seaweed pattern.

I’m guessing that the original handle of this mug broke off during a particularly rough bar room brawl. Luckily, a local tinker, sometime in the third quarter of the 19th century, was able to bring it back to life by adding an iron replacement handle with support bands.

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Similar mocha ware mugs and jugs can be seen on the bottom shelf behind the counter in this late 19th century photo.

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Photo courtesy of Martyn Edgell

This is what the original loop handle on my mug would have looked like prior to the brawl.

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Photo courtesy of The Antique Dispensary

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2 Responses to “Mocha ware tavern mug, c.1850”

  1. marie-Hélène Desjardins says:

    Très intéressant, merci beaucoup Andrew !

  2. Jonathan Rickard says:

    It’s unlikely that the mug was damaged in a bar fight inasmuch as this mug and others like it were not made for export but rather for the home market—used in pubs and markets. So it was more likely to have been hurt when one drinker spilled his shandy on another who, taking umbrage, pilloxed the chap with his own pint in a pub.

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