Mug

The mug preserved in the National Museum in Szczecin is large and solid. Its walls are straight, narrowing slightly towards the top, and it has a large, comfortable strap handle. These two features make it similar to a beer mug, a popular drink in the 19th century. It is glazed on both sides, in two colours. A light glaze, made with tin oxide (Sno2), surrounds the vessel's spout, which optically creates the effect of convexity (thickening). The remaining part of the vessel is dark brown. The brown colour of the glaze, made from a mixture of chromium (Cr203) and iron (Fe203) oxides, is the colour of enamel most often used by potters in folk ceramics from many regions. Like other ceramic products, Mugs were produced by local craftsmen, however in a more modest number than the most popular jugs, bowls, plates, pots, bottles, and twiddles. In different shapes and several colour variants, all of them were sold at fairs, markets, and directly from the manufacturer. In the prosperous region of Pyrzyce, most households had many ceramic vessels, often used only for storing specific products such as water, sour milk, oil or paraffin. In this fertile area, all storage vessels were usually packed. Even when there were so-called 'hungry years' caused by natural disasters, bad weather, fires, etc., which led to real tragedies in agriculturally weak areas, they were not as severe in the Pyrzyce region. The state of affairs was influenced by the economically robust, large farms, which in the 18th and 19th centuries were engaged not only in agriculture but also in land reclamation, which resulted in a considerable amount of cash on the market.

Iwona Karwowska