Английский Этимологический словарь - mug (n.)

- 1570, "bowl, pot, jug," perhaps from Scand. (cf. Swed. mugg "mug, jug," Norw. mugge "putcher"). Sense of "a person's face" first recorded 1708, possibly from drinking mugs shaped like grotesque faces. Sense in mug shot had emerged by 1887. The verb is 1818, originally "to strike the face," from the noun; the general meaning "attack" is first attested 1846, and "attack to rob" is 1864 (mugger is from 1865). Perhaps influenced by thieves' slang mug "dupe, fool, sucker" (1851). Verb sense of "exaggerate facial expressions" is from 1855.