Mug

This mug was one of a number of so-called “library mugs” that members of the Salmagundi Club of New York decorated. Mugs are known decorated by such American artists as Edward Austin Abbey, Emil Carlson, F. Luis Mora, and Howard Pyle. The mugs were made by the ceramist Charles Volkmar, also a member. Shelton was inextricably connected to the men’s club, serving as one if its founders and becoming the club’s first official librarian in 1898, having served unofficially in that capacity for a number of years prior. Shelton initiated the fund-raising event, holding an annual dinner with an auction of twenty-four ceramic mugs decorated by various artist members (each member also had his own decorated mug.). That this mug is dated 1899 indicates that it was part of either the first or second such “library dinners.” until 1908. Founded in 1871 by artists and illustrators to support one another, it is still going today at its current headquarters in a brownstone at 47 Fifth Avenue.