March into Spring Break with family-friendly activities for all ages at the Museum. Info & Tickets

Dismiss notification

Inscribed “Success to ye city of Boston, Liberty For Ever” and depicting a fantastical townscape, this English ceramic mug (circa 1770s) evokes the early years of the American Revolution. The mug particularly celebrates the American city of Boston as a guardian of Liberty. It may date to the time of the Coercive Acts of 1774. Part of the British Crown’s punishment for the famous Boston Tea Party of 1773, these acts closed the port of Boston and suspended the Massachusetts governing charter. Rather than quelling the growing discontent, the Coercive Acts only stoked the fires of rebellion and garnered sympathy for Massachusetts in the colonies and among political sympathizers in England.

Object Details

  • Mug
    Staffordshire, England
    1774-1776
    Earthenware (creamware)
    Museum of the American Revolution
    2012.00.0003

Tags

Image 120320 16x9 Collections Creamware Punchbowl 1
 

Creamware Punch Bowl

Produced in England in the 1790s, this ceramic punch bowl was made to be purchased by an American and is an example of how people used everyday objects to express political opinions.
See Object
Success to the Triphena Punch Bowl
 

Triphena Punch Bowl

This punch bowl wishes “Success to the Triphena,” a merchant ship that made frequent trips between Philadelphia and Liverpool, England, in the 1760s.
See Object
Image 092420 16x9 Arms Liberty Punch Bowl Collection Punchbowl
 

"Arms of Liberty" Punch Bowl

This punch bowl, made in China for export to Britain and its American colonies, was designed to poke fun at those opposed to English politician John Wilkes.
See Object