Mug printed in underglaze black with the Precarious Chinaman pattern. Examples of this pattern from the Cambrian Pottery, Swansea, bear dates between 1798 and 1801. The pattern was made elsewhere, and the version on this example may well be from Staffordshire. Underglaze black as well as underglaze brown prints were used at this time both in Staffordshire and at Swansea. The Duke of Rutland, visiting the Cambrian Pottery in 1797, noted 'There is a sort of Brown colour, lately discovered by some person in London, which is much used here...'

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