Moustache cup and portraits

Ryedale Folk Museum and others

This unusual cup at Ryedale Folk Museum was produced with a special ledge or guard inside, giving us a clue to its owner.

Towards the end of the 19th century, any respectable Victorian gentleman would likely be found sporting a moustache. The ledge would ensure that the moustache stayed styled with wax whilst he sipped hot beverages. British potter Harvey Adams is credited with inventing it. 

A moustache was a time-consuming accessory so this fashion was led by the upper, wealthier classes with the greatest leisure time. 

Facial-hair fashions have come and gone throughout history, often linked to perceptions of masculinity.

The Crimean War has been cited as a cause of the return of facial hair amongst Victorian men, when heavy beards became associated with the heroism of the returning soldiers in 1856. Then, from 1860, Army regulations stated men should shave their chins but not their upper lip. This may have been a response to colonialism, since the British Army was stationed in India where Indian men often had large moustaches.

Whose face would you want on your cup?

Moustache cups rose in popularity from the 1870s. This cup is decorated with an image of Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts.

Roberts was regarded in his time as one of Britain’s most successful military campaigners due to his role in the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-80). His inclusion on the cup is likely down to his notable whiskers and heroic status during the 1880s. It gives us an interesting insight into attitudes at the time. 

Facial hair fashions in portraits

We see facial hair fashions show up in portraiture too, like this painting of ‘J.H. Wilson, Mayor of Harrogate’.

It was painted by Thomas Holroyd in 1897 and is part of the collection at The Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate

Likewise, you can see ‘Captain Henry Darley’ (late 19th century), with a moustache in his portrait Scarborough Art Gallery’s collection.

These two portraits would both have been commissioned to show these men, who were considered important in their time, in all their regalia and looking their finest.

Vocabulary

Regalia: the emblems and signs that show status, including the objects and ornaments worn and carried, such as mayoral chains, and clothing such as formal robes. Royal regalia includes the crown and sceptre.

Commission: when an artist is paid to produce a custom-made work of art