Liverpool Creamware Frog Mug Depicting Nelson

Description

Heading : Liverpool Creamware Frog Mug Depicting Nelson
Date :  Almost certaing commemorative post 1805
Period : George III
Marks : None
Origin : Liverpool
Colour : Polychrome
Pattern : Blue border to rim, foot and handle. Floral sprigs aroung the printed portrait. of Lord Nelson Frog in the central well
Restoration. None
Dimensions : 11.6m height, 8.5cm diameter
Weight : 278 grams

As tempting as it is to suggest that the frog ( or toad) is a reference to Nelson repeatedly vanquishing French foes this is almost certainly not the case. Surprise mugs had contained frogs and toads for 40 years or more before this mug was produced. The more interetsing question would be why do the British refer to the French as Frogs at all? The answer is not so simple. The French were not alone in eating edible frogs . Parisians referred to themselves as grenouilles as Paris was built in an area of swampland. It is possible that this originated with Queen Elizabeth Ist and a French courtier who enjoyed leaping when dancing and was referred to by Her Majesty as ‘my little frog’.