COVE

“Mug” 

Newcastle Pottery

Newcastle upon Tyne, England 

On Display at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England

Created by Newcastle Pottery in Newcastle upon Tyne, a small English city in the northeast, this memorial mug in honour of Lord Nelson’s death followed a tradition of memorial pottery in the 19th century. Created in 1805, this mug marked the year Lord Nelson fell in battle and passed away fighting the Napoleonic war in the Battle of Trafalgar on the 21st of October. The mug depicts a soldier and a sailor standing on either side of a large memorial; engraved with a large bust of Lord Nelson atop an inscription and quotes that mark his passing. Reflecting the romantic ideals popularized at the time by poets such as William Wordsworth, this mug uses themes of remembrance and the narratives of grief and memorium, which citizens could understand and relate to. The strong naval representation on the mug also would have struck a chord with the British public, having been inundated with narratives of exploration and the sublime nature of the sea, such as Coleridge’s famous “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. This fantastic beauty and terror of exploration that Coleridge describes, would have represented the work a navalman such as Lord Nelson, would have been doing, and helpinged citizens to feel closer to the experiences and appreciate the bravery of Lord Nelson in their remembrance. Nelson was an extremely popular figure in the 18th century and was a masthead for the navy, his victories gave the British hope in the Napoleonic war, and as such his death was something to be reckoned with throughout the entire country, down to the average citizen.

Key Words: Memorial, Naval Exploration, Lord Nelson, the Sublime, Grief