Name/Title
George Pearse Ennis Hand Painted Mug | Salmagundi Club, New York, New York | 1920Description
Gift of Ross Y. Furman, 2022. Part of the Ross Y. Furman Advance Collection.
Hand painted ceramic mug by artist, George Pearse Ennis, with shore scene of Eastport, Maine. Mug was auctioned off for the benefit the Salmagundi Club of New York City in 1920. Signed and dated by the artist on bottom of mug along with Salmagundi Club name. 6 inches tall by 4 1/4 inches in diameter at base.
https://salmagundi.org/mug-collection/:
LIBRARY MUG FUND COLLECTION
Beginning in 1899, Club member and head of the library William Henry Shelton (1840-1932) commissioned blank ceramic mugs to be painted by members and auctioned off to support the library fund (later called the library “Mug Fund.”)
Fellow artist member Charles Volkmar who ran a ceramic factory produced the mugs for the Salmagundi. Over the years, some of the mugs have been bought back by members and donated to the club to preserve their important history. The Club currently owns approximately 80 examples. Mugs were produced between 1899 and 1924, auctioning 24 per year. There are possibly 600 mugs that exist.
The library owns research binder prepared by Bob Muller documenting every sale of the mugs by year as well as the official ‘Mug book’ which documented the sales by the library committee.
