Friendship Mug
c. 1937
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and gouache on paperboard
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.11338
Art Historical Context
Behold the *Friendship Mug*, a watercolor, graphite, and gouache by Elizabeth Dimling, created around 1937. This delicate work on paperboard captures the charm of a traditional folk art vessel—likely a ceramic mug adorned with heartfelt inscriptions celebrating companionship, a motif popular in 19th-century American decorative. Dimling's precise draftsmanship brings the mug's curves, textures, and sentimental details to life, evoking the everyday poetry of yesteryear. As part of the *Index of American Design*, a New Deal-era Federal Art Project (1935–1942), this piece holds profound historica...