A rare and large Worcester armorial mug, c.1765, painted in the London atelier of James Giles with

A rare and large Worcester armorial mug, c.1765, painted in the London atelier of James Giles with the arms of Fleetwood quartering Tyldesley, within berried leaf swags, flanked by Classical stone urns, the rim with a continuous band of fruiting grapevine,14.2cm.

Provenance: the Clifford Henderson Collection. Purchased Bearnes, Hampton and Littlewood, 5th October 2016.

The armorial on the mug is something of an enigma, since no contemporary union between the Tyldesley and Fleetwood families is apparent. The families are linked in previous generations, however, and appear to be centred around Myerscough in Lancashire. The Myerscough Tyldesleys (whose shield is quartered on this mug) were famed Jacobites, and it is possible that the nod to them on this mug was a political statement, since past members of the Fleetwood family were also ardently Royalist.