The idea that early straight-sided red earthenware mugs (or tankards) made in America in the eighteenth century were influenced by British design is a subject that I posted about on this website earlier this week, titled, An Early Straight-Sided Green Glazed Red Earthenware Mug Likely Eighteenth Century in Origin: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/04/an-early-straight-sided-green-glazed.html.
However, this is also a subject that is discussed in my forthcoming two-volume, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/01/update-on-new-book-book-sent-to.html.
Nonetheless, the following eighteenth century American mottled green glazed straight sided red earthenware mug was recovered off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire in the twentieth-century. It was found alongside other domestic red earthenware, as well as a variety of imported ceramics, dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth century.
Interestingly, while similar styles were imported from England, the shape and manufacture of this mug suggests it was locally produced in either Massachusetts or perhaps Philadelphia, both of which were major hubs for red earthenware production in the 1700s. The shape of this particular mug, along with the ribbing or banding of incised lines near the midsection and the base is found in the archeology of the pre-1775 industry in Charlestown, Massachusetts and the archaeology of the circa 1764-1799 Daniel Bayley (1729-1792) Pottery Company in Newburyport, Massachusetts, among other locations, including production in Philadelphia.
The source of inspiration for the form may have been a similar type of earthenware mug made in Staffordshire, England in the early eighteenth century; for more information - see Peter Williams' article in the 2003 issue of Ceramics in America, titled, The Talbot Hotel Pit Group: https://chipstone.org/images.php/79/Ceramics-in-America-2003/The-Talbot-Hotel-Pit-Group.
I also want to add that straight sided mugs were produced in America in the nineteenth and twentieth century, such as some examples made on Long Island in New York, which are sometimes mistaken for production in Danvers, Massachusetts. The form was also made at the Moses Paige Pottery in Peabody, Massachusetts in the twentieth century, although when in-hand, these later examples are distinctly different than the ones from the 1700s: https://historicbeverly.net/product/the-moses-b-paige-company-the-last-of-the-peabody-potteries/.
Note: For more information about these types of artifacts recovered off the coast of Portsmouth and New Castle, New Hampshire - see my eighth book, titled, An Influential Family of Early Potters: The Clarks of New Hampshire and Related Businesses: https://historicbeverly.net/product/an-influential-family-of-early-potters-the-clarks-of-new-hampshire-and-related-businesses/.
Red Earthenware Mug Recovered Off the Coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire
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