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Railway Mug
Factory: Don Pottery (Possibly)
Cream earthenware transfer-printed in blue under bluish lead-glaze (pearlware). The cylindrical mug has a projecting lower edge, and an angular handle with slightly projecting thumbpiece. The outside is decorated with a train travelling to the right on a bridge over a canal towards Westgate Station with a church spire behind it. Below on the right and left there are flowering plants and on the extreme rght, a tree. The locomotive, named 'VICTORY', is followed by a tender labelled 'SRRW', and three closed passenger coaches, with luggage and on two also figures on the roof. On the canal a barge with two men aboard is being towed by a horse on the tow path. Above the train is the inscription SHEFFIELD & ROTHERHAM RAILWAY/OPENED OCTOBER 31. 1838.' Inside the rim is a border comprising a shaped panel with a scrolled edge, a locomotive, tender and three closed passenger carriages, another scrolled panel, and a locomotive, tender and four closed passenger carriages. On the top of the handle there is a blurred formal plant motif.
History note: Mrs W.D. Dickson, Bournemouth by whom given on 2 February 1926 to Dr J.W.L. Glaisher, FRS, Trinity College, Cambridge
Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest
Height: 10 cm
Width: 14.5 cm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr
19th Century, second quarter#
William IV
Circa
1838
CE
-
1839
CE
The Sheffield & Rotherham Railway was a short east to west route of 5 miles (8 kilometers) between the two towns. The first train took Lord Fitzwilliam and invitees from Sheffield to Rotherham on 31 October 1838. The first public train travelled on 1st November. The first engine, Victory, made the journey in 17 minutes, but the usual time after the opening was about 20 minutes. The tickets cost 1shilling (5p) first class, 9d. (4p.) second class 6d. (2.5 p.) third class, prices which were relatively much higher than their 'new money' equivalent if compared to wages and the purchasing power of money in 1838. In 1844 the Midland Railway took over the operation of the track in October 1844 and the formal take-over of the original company was authorized on 21 July 1845. It seems probable that this mug was made in time for the opening of the line or during the first year or so of its operation.
Decoration
composed of
ceramic printing colour
( cobalt)
Base
Diameter 9.8 cm
Body
Handle
cream
Earthenware
slightly tinted blue with cobalt
Lead-glaze
Inscription present: rectangular white paper stick-on label with cut corners and dark blue line on the edge
Accession number: C.1129-1928
Primary reference Number: 71389
Old object number: 4791
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Railway Mug" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/71389 Accessed: 2024-11-05 16:28:01
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/71389
|title=Railway Mug
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-05 16:28:01|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-71389
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa2/C_1129_1928_281_29.jpg"
alt="Railway Mug"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Railway Mug</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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