Mug, cast pewter

Mug

Cast pewter
England, dated 1703
Maker's touch '16--' (unidentified)
Inscribed 'John Walltrope Att the Bell Att Turvey 1703'
Yeates bequest

Mugs were often stolen from taverns, so many innkeepers inscribed ownership marks on them. Some even bore the inscription 'If Sold Stole'! This one is inscribed on behalf of the Bedfordshire innkeeper John Walthorp. Surviving tankards with the fashionable swirling decoration of about 1700 are rare.