Description:

Creamware mug made by Josiah Wedgwood in Staffordshire and printed in black by Sadler and Green in Liverpool with "The Triple Plea", a satire against lawyers, doctors and priests. The deep colour of the creamware suggests that this is a relatively early example. Sadler wrote to Wedgwood on 13 August 1763 that he had "got the drawings done for the Triple Plea, Q[uar]t, Pint and 1/2 pint." On 10 December he wrote "We have got the [engraved] Plates down of the Triple Pleas" and goes on "Please to send us a P[ar]c[e]l of Straight Quart and Pint Mugs, for the Triple Pleas (2 Crates of each)."