A Kangxi Blanc de Chine Export Porcelain ‘Gorge’.

The origins of the gorge lie in the wider European tradition of making globular drinking vessels. German potters were producing stoneware drinking jugs and mugs during the 15th and 16th centuries. Important centres included the Rhineland, particularly Frechen and Westerwald. Stoneware was ideal for drinking vessels. Fired at high temperatures, it was hard, durable and relatively impermeable to liquids. Especially important if you look at the behaviour in taverns of the late 17th century (see ‘Information’ below). Dutch and Flemish paintings frequently show riotous drunken scenes which frequently show damaged pottery. German stoneware was also exported in substantial quantities. English consumers used these imported wares long before English potters developed a successful stoneware industry of their own. My first ceramic find was a piece of stoneware from a German mug or jug, I found it in Mousehole harbour in Cornwall when I was eight years old. The characteristic rounded body and narrower neck of the gorge developed within this Continental tradition, however I think its a particularly English model. The gorges I’ve seen are small and delicate compared to European stoneware beer mugs. One of the central figures in the history of the gorge is John Dwight. Dwight established his pottery at Fulham, London, and obtained a patent in 1672 relating to the manufacture of stoneware. He sought to produce English wares capable of competing with the imported German products that were already popular in the domestic market. As you can see below, the gorge was made using many materials, including glass and Chinese porcelain from Dehua. For examples of different types of gorges see below.