Heraldic devices called coats of arms or armorials have distinguished elite European families since the 1300s. The armorial on this mug represents the family of Walter Scott, first Earl of Tarras (1644-1693). In 1660 Scott was granted a life peerage (a non-inheritable title), making him equal in rank to his wife, Mary Scott, 3rd Countess of Buccleuch. Centuries later, upwardly mobile colonial American families would choose porcelains and silver embellished with family crests to help proclaim their social and economic status.