Description:
Finely potted white salt-glazed stoneware mugs or "gorges" are commonly attributed to London stoneware potter, John Dwight (1633-1703), credited as the first stoneware potter in England to achieve commercial success. Although stoneware appears to have been produced earlier on in places such as Woolwich, Dwight credited himself in his 1672 patent with discovering “the Mistery of transparent Earthen Ware commonly knowne by the names of Porcelane or China & Persian ware As also the Mistery of the Stone ware vulgarly called Cologne ware.” Shortly afterwards, he experimented with the production of porcelain, and also produced a variety of stoneware that copied German stoneware imports. Dwight’s potting techniques appear to have improved over time, and by the 1680s, Dwight was producing a number of “fine” wares. In a second patent obtained by Dwight in 1684 he included “white Gorges marbled Porcelane Vessels Statues and Figures and fine stone Gorges and Vessels never before made in England or elsewhere.” This stoneware mug is likely representative of the “white gorges” referenced in Dwight’s second patent. In the 1970s, archaeologists discovered shards of similar wares at the site of Dwight’s Pottery in Fulham. The whiteness of the clay body achieved by Dwight was a true innovation and set him apart from the work of his contemporaries in England. Fragments of an early white salt-glazed stoneware gorge, possibly a product of Dwight’s Fulham Pottery, have been located at the Duggan site in Essex County, Virginia. Mug, John Dwight (1633-1703), London, England, c. 1690. White salt-glazed stoneware with applied silver rim to top edge. Thrown mug has a silver rim affixed to the top edge, the silver is slightly damaged with a crenelated lower edge, there may be silversmith's marks where the halves join near the handle, incised horizontal reeding on the collar, bulbous lower body, applied ribbed strap handle with small curled terminal of clay, white paper labels on the base of the mug read: "ROUS LENCH/ COLLECTION. /No. 503" and "#284 V/ Dwight-Fulham/ c. 1690" Condition: Mug is cracked in several places, handle is cracked in two places and repaired, needs careful handling. some black specks on the base of the mug from firing. Silver rim is very tarnished.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2022.19.21 |
