I am pleased to offer an original and rare wide strap handle coffee mug in the Canterbury Bells or Red Star motif. The Canterbury Bells was one of the four original oatmeal bowl motifs not assigned a plant name. It was retired long ago in 1978.

This 12 oz mug is in excellent condition with little wear, if any, and NO crazing! I only see two timy flaws, probably both factory, so please be sure to look below for a full description. So hard to find an older Botanic Garden mug in such nice condition!


The Canterbury Bells flower was one of the four original oatmeal motifs, introduced in 1972 and retired early in 1978, that did not have a Latin name printed next to the common name. The other three unnamed oatmeal motifs were retired in the same year. The design was inspired by an image in the 1840 botany book La Flore des Dames by A. Jacquemart.

A very large pretty black and dark red butterfly is on the back.

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The handle is wide and this shape is called a Strap Handle mug.

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Size	Approximately 3-1/4" across the top (not including the handle) and 4" high Liquid capacity - 12 ounces
Transfer	A flower is on the front and large butterfly on the back. Both are very bright and colorful. The butterfly has a tiny hard to see pin head sized cut in the transfer that looks to me like a common factory flaw. It is too small to catch in a photo.
Ground	Very white
Glaze	NO crazing and very shiny glaze. I soaked it in water looking for crazing or flaws that penetrate the glaze and did not find any.
Chips/Cracks	None
Stains	None, except for a VERY slight bit of shelf wear on the unglazed bottom ring where it sits on a surface. I see is a tiny dark spot on the inside bottom edge which is a very common factory flaw on older mugs. It does not take in water and most likely is a factory flaw.
Use Marks	None, but probably has been used. It must have been well taken care of.
Other Comments	An excellent example of the long ago retired and rare Canterbury Bells mug!

The cup is marked with a Susan Williams Ellis 2nd Trophy ID mark used in the late 1970's to early 1980's.

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