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Railway Mug: C.776-1928

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An image of Mug
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Current Location: In storage

Titles

Railway Mug

Maker(s)

Production: William Cooper & Co.

Entities

Categories

Description

White lead-glazed earthenware transfer-printed underglaze in brown, and painted overglaze in green and dark pink enamels. The cylindrical mug has a recessed base, and an ear-shaped handle with a slightly projecting thumbpiece at the top, and another porjection lower down. The exterior is decorated with a railway-train going to the right through a landscape with hills, trees, a farmouse, a country house and a church with a spire. The engine is labelled NERO and is followed by a coal truck on which ride the driver and his mate, two closed passenger carriages with luggage on the roof, a brougham with two persons on the box on an open truck, and a guard's van with a Staffordshire Knot on the side. Inside the upper part there is a broad brown scale border with pendant stylized leaves, and down the back of the handle is a vertical brown Gothic style border. The base is printed in brown with the maker's initials, 'W.C. & Co' with above on a wavy ribbon, the pattern name, 'RAILWAY'.

Notes

History note: Bought at Plymouth by Mrs W.D. Dickson of Bournemouth, who gave it in 1926 as part of a Christmas present to Dr J.W.L. Glaisher, FRS, Trinity College, Cambridge

Legal notes

Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest

Measurements and weight

Height: 10.3 cm
Width: 13 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr

Dating

19th Century, Late
Circa 1850 CE - 18 CE

Note

The North Staffordshire Railway was opened in late 1849.

Components of the work

Decoration composed of ceramic printing colour ( brown) enamel ( green and dark pink)
Base Diameter 9.5 cm
Handle

Materials used in production

white Earthenware
Lead-glaze

Techniques used in production

Lead-glazing

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: NERO
  • Location: On outside
  • Method of creation: Transfer-printed in brown
  • Type: Inscription
  • Text: W.C. & Co with above a ribbon inscribed 'RAILWAY'
  • Location: On base
  • Method of creation: Transfer-printed in brown
  • Type: Factory mark incorporating pattern name

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.776-1928
Primary reference Number: 76038
Old object number: 4790

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Monday 4 August 2025

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Railway Mug" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/76038 Accessed: 2025-12-05 08:51:45

Citation for Wikipedia

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/76038 |title=Railway Mug |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 08:51:45|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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