A variety of inscribed gold painted red earthenware commemorative mugs were made at the John Farmer Clark (1832-1885) Pottery in the Millville section of Concord, New Hampshire in the 1870s and 1880s, ranging from inscriptions in support of both sides of Presidential campaigns, in celebration of America's Centennial in 1876, as well as other types of events. From what I have seen in museum and private collections, it seems that these types of mugs were first produced in 1876 and continued until 1884. But very few are known to exist today.
However, this inscribed mug was just acquired by New Hampshire collector Mark Newton that simply reads, "MER / 1878." I have not seen this inscription before, although I suspect it may be related to religion or perhaps the third World's Fair that took place in Paris from May 1 to November 10, 1878.
These types of mugs are occasionally found in the antiques trade today without any inscription or gold paint, although with the exact exterior and interior glazes. However, the commemorative mugs are possibly a unique type of production in New Hampshire, seeing that I have not seen anything else like it produced by a potter working in this state.
For more information about John Farmer Clark - I suggest a research story I wrote that was published in the June 2021 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled, The Red Earthenware Industry in Concord, New Hampshire.
Link to story: https://www.scribd.com/document/508718656/Feature-Concord-Redware-Maine-Antique-Digest-June-2021
A Commemorative 19th Century Red Earthenware Mug from Concord, N.H.
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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