Description:
A Staffordshire white saltglazed stoneware mug, circa 1760; tall, cylindrical form with a slightly spreading foot and plain strap handle, inscribed "Iohn Corbin/ at the/ Carpenters Arms/ Margate" in "scratch blue" within a roundel flanked by flowering branches, the flowers are created by scratching into the surface with a sharp stylus and grooved tool, the scratched decoration is rubbed with powdered zaffre or cobalt before firing, 15.8cm high. Marriages for a John Corbin are recorded in the parish registers of St John's, Margate for 1762 and 1787. The Corbins were seafarers and a John Corbin was described as a 'master-mariner' in 1811. Margate likely refers to Margate, England, a small seaside town in the County of Kent. Research has revealed that the John Corbin inscribed on the exterior of the mug possibly married a Mary Ladd April 11, 1762 at St. John the Baptist in Margate. The couple had several sons (including a son, John) who were all born in Margate. The “Carpenter’s Arms” also inscribed on the mug’s exterior likely refers to a local tavern or public house. Research, however, has been unable to locate a tavern by that name in Margate in the eighteenth century.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2017.9.1 |
