18th century tankard

I was given this interesting tankard recently but it's 150 years out of my comfort zone so any info would be great







stamped deep into the clay are the words B,Butt Warmister 1781 and a small circular stamp with GR below the crown of England

it's 5.5 inches tall,thrown from stoneware and saltglazed

Dunno Dan , some guy called B Butt , during the reign of George the fourth , liked a bevvy in Warminster , got drunk forgot his tankard , now youv'e got it ..JEEZ I should be on AR  

Ed's got his George's mixed up - it was George III in 1781.

The local pottery in the South Wiltshire area at that time seemed to be far more ornate than your tankard and largely earthenware but by the end of the 18th century pottery was transported considerable distances so there is nothing to say that it was produced in the local area.

Can't really add anything more but it would be interesting to try and trace Mr. Butt as well as where the tankard originated.

I would have thought B.Butt was the original owner of the tankard, as it was common practice to have your own pint glass/tankard hanging from a hook at the bar you were a regular at. Might be worth asking London Museum if they have any idea where these were made.

Thanks everyone,I'm guessing it was made elsewhere in England by someone who couldn't spell Warminster

Yes , sorry george the turd , my mistake , found some Butts that year in register

http://ukga.org/cgi-bin/browse.cgi?DB=8&action=ViewRec&bookID=59&page=73

The interesting thing is the assay mark, which must verify the capacity (I'm guessing
one pint), which must have been impressed in manufacture, to an approved size?
Pewter tankards, measures (and weights) were assayed and stamped afterwards, as
were glasses which could be etched, by weights and weasures.

it is a pint tankard but there are no marks other than those mentioned in my original post

Hi Dan, Just had a chat with a mate who specialises in Breweriana.
In his opinion the name would be a publican's, not a customer's.
He would have ordered these in bulk, for his pub, with his name on,
from a pottery with weights and measures approval, hence the
crown assay mark. If there are little numbers in there, you can
easily track that down to the specific office. The nearest stoneware
manufacturers to Warminster were probably in the Bristol area.

oh I see.

I just checked and there are no numbers

big ed wrote:Yes , sorry george the turd , my mistake , found some Butts that year in register

http://ukga.org/cgi-bin/browse.cgi?DB=8&action=ViewRec&bookID=59&page=73

We're there any called Seymore Butts?

the second one is 3.5 inches tall but very similar

OMG you have more! did you do a pub clearance Dan!
Take it there's no assay mark. Is this a 1/2 pt then?
At least they spelt it correctly this time!
Elvis has left the pub......