Mug "Sea wolf"

Country: England

Manufactory: Royal Doulton

Date of establishment: 1960s

Size (cm): 21*18 

Porcelain Story

Exactly 170 years ago, on December 5, 1848, in his address to Congress, the President of the United States of America, James Polk, officially confirmed what literally everyone in California had been talking about for literally half a year. Is it only in California alone? From all over America, on horseback, just on foot and on huge wagons, in train cars completely packed with people and in the holds of sea ships, hundreds of thousands of people moved towards San Francisco in search of happiness, which was about to fall on their dreamy heads. In a short time, the population of a small town, in which only about one thousand people lived, increased to 25 thousand! This was the beginning of the madness that was soon called the "gold rush".

Adventurers who came to San Francisco in search of gold settled in old stables, warehouses, open-air tents and in the same holds of ships moored to the pier. Since there was no question of normal living conditions and functioning of the more or less necessary infrastructure, at first it was on board the ships that the first bank branches, and hospitals, and trading shops, and schools began to be equipped. In the hold of one of the ships, they even equipped the first local prison...

It all started with the fact that on one of the small farms, a worker named James W. Marshall suddenly discovered several gold nuggets in the blades of a water mill on the South Fork American River. Having informed the owner of the farm, a certain John Sutter, he greatly upset him. Convinced that the stones found are indeed real gold, Sutter imagined what pandemonium would begin here if everyone knew about this find. “They will trample and dig everything around!” he was horrified at the sad prospect. But could such a discovery be kept secret for long? Soon, Mr. Sutter's worst expectations were confirmed.

Hundreds of thousands of almost columns of gold miners continuing to arrive in those parts left nothing not only from the once prosperous farm of John Sutter, but also from many local rivers, forests and valleys. But the first local stratum of gold buyers, wealthy bankers and businessmen appeared. Beautiful houses, hotels, taverns, gambling establishments and already quite civilized hospitals and schools appeared. Even local prisons and courts finally got their proper look. San Francisco began to develop rapidly. And the state of California (by that time it had already completed all the necessary documents in order to be called a full-fledged American state) everyone had already started to call it the “golden state” as usual ...

The mug presented to your attention can be considered for a long time and with interest, because this author's work is replete with many unusual elements. This limited edition product was created by masters of the famous English porcelain manufactory Royal Doulton and was purchased by me at one of the American online auctions (not in San Francisco!). There are dozens of such mugs in our collection. They are interesting because they perfectly convey the characters of the characters depicted on the products. For example, this image of an experienced sea skipper, it seems to me, could well be related to the first gold prospectors who arrived in California during the “gold rush”.