Mug

Description

This tapered cylindrical mug with a molded upper rim and base is attributed to pewterer William Will by comparison to the identical casting as another mug marked by Will (Winterthur collection 1958.662). Will is not known for pictorial engraving, and the unknown engraver’s simplified single-line depiction of a man on horseback is enthralling. The man wears a round topped hat and coat, holding a sword upright with his right hand and the horse’s reins with his left. Above him are two banners with the upper one stating “LIBERTY Or DEATH” (from Patrick Henry’s patriotic speech in 1775) and the lower one “HUZZA For CAPT. ICKES.” Recovered near Carlisle, Pennsylvania in the 1930s and admired by early collectors, this mug was once characterized as “the finest example of American folk art engraving on pewter that has been discovered.” According to tradition, Captain Peter Ickes (1748-1829) was gifted this mug by his townspeople after leading his company of militia against the British during the American Revolutionary War. It is certainly commemorative and the image bears similarity to artistic depictions of a commanding officer on horseback familiar during the era. Ickes was born in Limerick to culturally German/Swiss parents. Having moved to Abbottstown, Pennsylvania with his wife Dorthea Keb(p)ner in 1772, they established a hotel. It is recorded that George Washington visited in 1795, perhaps the impetus for engraving the mug. Ickes served as the town’s first postmaster in 1796, was active in his church, and served as a school trustee. The first United States Census (1790) listed his household as 11 persons which included one enslaved person.