An extremely rare and important Worcester mug

Provenance:
The Museum of New York

English Private Collection

Literature:
See 18th Century English Transfer-Printed Porcelain and Enamels, The Joseph M Handley Collection, No 1.15, for a bowl printed with George III and a view of Havannah, there listed at Worcester, but now classified as Derby

A rare and important Worcester small cylindrical mug, with notched loop handle, printed in Liverpool in brick red with a head and shoulders portrait of 'George III King of Great Britain', titled on a ribbon and flanked by 'C' scrolls, flags, a cannon and a map of 'I.Cuba' and 'Havannah', in a titled scroll, 3 1/4" high, circa 1762-63, no mark

 A few months after the Coronation of George III in September 1762, the Seven Years War, which had started in 1754, spread to the West Indies, and after Spain's alliance with the French, a British expedition of five warships and 4,000 troops set out in 1762 from Portsmouth to capture Cuba. The British arrived in June, and by August, Havannah had surrendered. the Admiral of the Fleet, George Keppel 3rd Earl of Albermarle , entered the city as a conquering new Governor, and took control of the whole western part of the island, opening up trade with the Colonies. However, the Treaty of Paris was signed in February 1763, and Spain, to secure the return of Havannah, ceded its territory of La Florida to the British.

This mug records the capture of Cuba in 1762, shown by the small scroll shaped cartouche with the inscription 'I Cuba' and 'Havannah', showing the position of the island and a map.

No comparable mug appears to be recorded,

---