Mug c. 1710

Curator: Here we have a silver mug. It is maker marked with the initials "BB" in an oval cartouche. Editor: It feels…substantial. That handle, especially—so curvaceous, yet solid. Almost aggressively elegant. Curator: Indeed. Consider the skill involved in shaping this, likely through hammering, raising, and chasing the silver. Editor: All that labor for a mug! What was the social context? Who drank from this, and what did that labor represent to them? Curator: Perhaps less about pure need, and more a demonstration of status, a tangible expression of wealth. Editor: It makes you wonder about the hands that made it, and the lips that touched its rim. Curator: A humble object, yet it speaks volumes. Editor: Precisely, a vessel brimming with untold stories.