Starbucks Montreal mug: Discovery Series
The Montreal Discovery mug prints MONTRÉAL on a green disc under two bagels, with the Biosphère, the Jacques Cartier Bridge, the Old Port Clock Tower and Notre-Dame Basilica's twin towers, plus a jazz trumpet, a skier and a runner.
- Series
- Discovery Series
- Place
- Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Type
- Mug
- Released
- Not confirmed
- Capacity
- 14 fl ozStarbucks's Discovery Series launch story calls it the 14-ounce ceramic mug
- SKU
- Not confirmed
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The dome that burned down to its bones
On 20 May 1976, during renovation work, fire engulfed the giant dome on Saint Helen's Island [8]. Nine years earlier it had been the United States pavilion at Expo 67, the plan the United States Information Agency had asked Buckminster Fuller to submit [9]. The acrylic skin burned away. The steel truss underneath was left undamaged [8]. Fuller suggested a way to cover it again, but the skin was never replaced, and the city banned access to the site [9]. It stood deserted for 14 years [8]. Between 1983 and 1992 the photographer Robert Duchesnay documented the ruin, and according to the Canadian Centre for Architecture, which holds 25 of his pictures, he wanted to warn the public that the building was in danger of disappearing [10]. It survived. Environment Canada signed a $17.5 million agreement to convert it, and in 1995 it opened as the country's first museum on the subject of water [9]. The sphere of white triangles at the foot of the Montreal mug (6), with a building drawn inside it, is that frame as it was saved: bare.
The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.
What's on the mug
- 1MONTRÉAL
The city name is printed in large light-green capitals, with the accent on the E, across a dark green disc in the centre of the front.
- 2Jacques Cartier Bridge
A grey-blue steel truss bridge with tall towers and a high arched span crosses wavy water at the top left of the front, and continues behind the Clock Tower on the side photo. The truss-and-cantilever shape matches the Jacques Cartier Bridge, which crosses the Saint Lawrence River beside the Old Port. The mug doesn't name it.[1]
- 3Two bagels, probably Montreal-style
Two ring-shaped bagels sit on top of the green disc, one pale green and one purple, both speckled with seeds. Montreal is known for its own seeded bagel, made with sesame or poppy seeds, and these are probably meant as that; the drawing cannot show how they were baked. The mug doesn't name them.[2]
- 4River map with a downtown skyline
A blue river winds around island shapes at the top of the front, with a small boat and a sailboat on it and a cluster of purple and green towers on the upper island. It may stand for the Saint Lawrence and the island of Montreal with its downtown, but the outline is too loose to read as a true map. The towers are not drawn as specific buildings.
- 5Stone buildings that look like Old Montreal
A row of yellow-green stone buildings with purple mansard roofs and dormers is drawn around a central tower with a clock and a pointed spire and an arched doorway. It looks like the old stone streets of Old Montreal, but no single building matches closely enough to name. The mug doesn't name it.
- 6Biosphère
A pale blue sphere patterned with white triangles, with a purple building drawn inside it and green trees around its base, sits at the bottom of the front. The triangle-patterned sphere matches the Biosphère, the geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller. The mug doesn't name it.[3]
- 7Boats on the river
A white boat with a purple roof and an open deck sails through blue waves at the lower left of the front, with a larger ship with several decks behind it. The boats are not drawn as specific vessels.
- 8Trumpet with music notes, perhaps for the jazz festival Side view
A large blue trumpet blows a spray of music notes and a treble clef at the top left of the side photo. It may refer to the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the city's yearly jazz festival, but the mug does not say so.[4]
- 9Pond with a runner, which may be Beaver Lake Side view
A rounded blue pond with grassy banks and trees, and a runner in shorts going past it, fills the left half of the side photo. It may be Beaver Lake, the man-made pond in the park on Mount Royal, but a park pond is common and the drawing has no detail that pins it down. The mug doesn't name it.[5]
- 10Cross-country skier Side view
A skier in a striped top, scarf and earmuffs pushes on poles across snow in the foreground of the side photo, breath showing in the cold air. The scene is not tied to a named place.
- 11Montreal Clock Tower (Old Port) Side view
A tall, slim pale-green tower with a round clock face near the top and a pointed spire stands by the water on the right of the side photo, in front of the Jacques Cartier Bridge. Its place by the river next to the bridge matches the Clock Tower that marks the entrance to the Old Port of Montreal; the drawing makes it slimmer than the real tower and gives it a pointed spire. The mug doesn't name it.[6]
- 12Dress form, handbag and pottery Side view
At the far left of the side photo a headless dress form on a stand wears a pendant necklace, a dark lace-patterned sleeveless top and a blue frilled skirt. In front of it are a purple-and-green handbag, a tall purple vase and a stack of bowls. What the group stands for is not clear from the drawing.
- 13Notre-Dame Basilica Back view
A yellow-green church front with two square towers topped by small pinnacles, and a blue arcade of arches between them, stands on the back of the mug. The twin Gothic Revival towers match Notre-Dame Basilica in Old Montreal. The mug doesn't name it.[7]
- 14Tree with a white leaf and blue rocks Back view
A round dark green tree with a single large white leaf on it stands on blue and purple rocks at the bottom of the back, next to a purple flowering shrub. It is not drawn as a specific place.
- 15Falling leaves Back view
A trail of small purple and green leaves with pointed lobes, shaped like maple leaves, drifts from the tree towards the handle on the back.
- 16STARBUCKS Back view
The word STARBUCKS with a registered-trademark sign is printed vertically in small black capitals beside the handle on the back.
The photos do not show the bottom of the mug or any base text; the inside is plain green. The front view ends where the handle starts, so the narrow strip of the drawing nearest the handle is seen only at an angle.
Collector notes
- The printed name is spelled MONTRÉAL, and the box reads DISCOVERY SERIES and SÉRIE DECOUVÉRTE (as printed).
- The Jacques Cartier Bridge appears twice as you turn the mug: at the left edge of the front and again behind the Clock Tower on the side, because the drawing wraps around and the two views overlap.
- The dress form at the far left of the side photo, with a handbag, a purple vase and stacked bowls in front of it, is not identified by anything on the mug, and the photos do not settle what it stands for.
Before you buy
The photos show a plain green inside but not the base, so any text printed underneath is not seen here. Turn the mug from the Biosphère and the Jacques Cartier Bridge appears a second time, behind the Old Port Clock Tower, because the drawing wraps around. The box is bilingual and prints DISCOVERY SERIES and SÉRIE DECOUVÉRTE.
Other Montreal mugs
About the Discovery Series
Sources
- Jacques Cartier Bridge (Wikipedia)
- Montreal-style bagel (Wikipedia)
- Montreal Biosphère (Wikipedia)
- Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (Wikipedia)
- Beaver Lake (Montreal) (Wikipedia)
- Montreal Clock Tower (Wikipedia)
- Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal) (Wikipedia)
- Montreal Biosphere (The Canadian Encyclopedia)
- History of the Biosphère (Environment Canada, archived 2007)
- Robert Duchesnay, Dome Project series (Canadian Centre for Architecture)
