Mug, 3.5 inches tall. Red transfer with gilding. Printed maker's mark for Thomas Furnival & Sons. This unnamed pattern features an odd-looking bird perched on a flowering branch. The long beak suggests perhaps a woodpecker or a blackbird. Framing the bird on the left is a large stylized sunflower head with the center filled with horizontal geometric bands. The opposite side of the mug features a small, curved flowering branch. There are gilded accents on the handle and rim.

Following involvement in previous partnerships, from 1851 Jacob and Thomas Furnival became partners at J. & T. Furnival. As well as earthenware manufacturers, they were in business as Grinders of Potters’ Materials at Etruria Vale, in the borough of Hanley. In 1859 Jacob Furnival, Thomas Furnival, and Francis Joseph Emery applied for a patent for “Improvements in apparatus for supporting articles of china and earthenware in kilns and ovens.” In May 1864 the partnership between Jacob and Thomas Furnival was dissolved and the business was continued by Thomas Furnival. Around 1871, Thomas Furnival the younger joined the business which became Thomas Furnival and Son. In 1876, another son, Samuel Bourne Furnival joined the business, which became Thomas Furnival and Sons. Around 1883 the company found itself in financial difficulty with liabilities of £60,000 (around £5 million in 2020 terms). In 1884 there was a notice of “Liquidation by Agreement” which allowed the company to trade out of its difficulties. Thomas Furnival Sr. retired in 1890 and the business was continued by his sons Thomas, Samuel, and Arthur. The style of the business became Furnivals.