This drinking cup or mug has been attributed to a Prestonpans pottery, but similar items were also made in Staffordshire. Scottish pottery production changed both in nature and scale during the second half of the eighteenth century as the economy grew out of a period of stagnation.

This is a glazed beer mug or cup, about one pint capacity. It is decorated under the rim with white ferns moulded in relief and applied to the pale yellow ground; the rim has been dipped in a brown glaze. It has a wide, flat handle.

In the middle of the eighteenth century, Scottish merchants imported both Staffordshire wares for sale and encouraged Staffordshire potters to settle in Scotland. The latter naturally influenced the output of their new workplaces, most of which is unmarked.