Lot 502: A Grimwades Winton Bruce Bairnsfather earthenware Great War memento mug

An earthenware cylindrical mug with a simple D-shaped handle, featuring transfer-printed decoration. The front depicts a sepia-toned scene after the wartime cartoonist Captain Bruce Bairnsfather, showing British soldiers in a flooded trench. The scene is captioned below in printed capitals WHAT TIME DO THEY FEED THE SEA-LIONS, ALF? and bears the artist signature Bruce Bairnsfather. The reverse features commemorative text printed in brown reading A MEMENTO OF THE GREAT WAR COMMENCED AUG 4th 1914 ARMISTICE NOV 11th 1918 PEACE SIGNED JUNE 28th 1919. The rim is finished with a gilded band and a thin black line to the interior. The base bears a black printed factory mark with the name GRIMWADES above a crown. Below this is a globe with a banner reading WINTON, flanked by the letters G and B. A curved banner underneath reads STOKE ON TRENT above the word ENGLAND.