Mug (Cup)

Description

This gold-plated silver mug with engine-turned surface ornamentation was created in the workshop of Peter Krider for an order managed by the jewelry firm J.E. Caldwell & Company in Philadelphia. In a wonderful reversal, more is know about the origin of this mug's material than about its subsequent life with owner John Cocking. The intriguing inscription on the underside links the silver directly to mines in Chester County, Pennsylvania. These were a cluster of mines managed by Charles M. Wheatley with help from Cornish miners' knowledge, skills, and pumping engines. Today the mineral extraction activities have ceased, but the environmental impact of the Wheatley mining endeavors remain deep in the landscape west of the Schuylkill River near Phoenixville. Silver ore was a fraction of their products, thus objects made from refined local galena ore are incredibly rare.