Description

A rare early English silver mug of plain form. The body is raised from sheet and has a simple strap handle and an incised, reeded neck. This is the earliest type of mug, made completely by hand, and showing traces of the original hand beaten silver. Hand engraved to the front is a lion crest.

Contains 520ml.
Weight 210 grams, 6.7 troy ounces.
Height 16cm. Diameter 7.7cm. Spread across handle 13.2cm.
London 1684.
Maker Peter Monger.
Sterling silver.
17^th century.

A very similar mug with smaller dimensions, made (probably) by Benjamin Pyne is in The Huntington Collection, San Marino, California.

Marks. Stamped underneath with a full set of clear English silver hallmarks. Maker’s mark “PM” identified as probably Peter Monger – see David Mitchell’s Silversmiths in Elizabethan and Stuart London page 435).

Arms. The crest is probably for Sir John Hanmer, 3rd Baronet (died August 1701), a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1690. Sir John married Mary Alston and died without issue in 1701. Mary died later and her next of kin was Samuel Alston who had the administration of her estate. The mug is mostly likely to have been part of her estate and passed down the Alston family. The three initials under the crest are TTA (TTA), an indication that they were added in the 18th century or later for a member of the Alston family.