Old English plate, ecclesiastical, decorative, and domestic : its makers and marks / by Wilfred Joseph Cripps.

  • Cripps, Wilfred Joseph, 1841-1903.
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Old English plate, ecclesiastical, decorative, and domestic : its makers and marks / by Wilfred Joseph Cripps. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    513/514 (page 487)
    6g2 Jgall iffliaiftB on ^lato. Okr of the revivals of the past half century has been that of the taste for ancient gold and silver ware, but especially of silver. With the revival of this taste there has also grown up with it the vei-j; laudable desire to know some- thing of the history of the manufacture and manufacturei-8 of the plate itself. The literature of the subject is not large, but it is almost ex- haustive, and for the materials of this Article readers of the Almanack are indebted to Mr. ; Wilfred Cripps, whose volume on “ Old English Plate ” contains nearly all that can be said upon the subj-ct. Readers ai-e also fm'ther indebted to j that gentleman for the loan of some of the following illustrations, without which this paper would scarcely be intelligible. It must be premised that pure gold and pure silver in a manufactured state do not exist; both are alloyed with a coai-ser metal, gold sometimes with silver, but mostly with copper; and silver invariably with the latter metal: silver thus alloyed becomes less brittle and is more easily shapel by the workman’s hammer. But mixed, the metal is of less value than when pxu'e, and as the uniofoiToed public could have no means of testing its intrinsic value, the Government . at a V'-ry early period took steps to insure uniformity in the quantity of base metal used as alloy. 8o fsir back as the year 1180 there appears to have been a test or check upon the manufac- tui'e, and in 1260 discreet men of the craft were appointed to wahh over the ware produced for jsale; but not till the year 1300 was there any I a< tual legislation, the &vnt ordinance being that the Leopard’s Head \ J should be viarked upon all sUrlin.q articles of gold and silver. The Com- pany of Goldsmiths 01 Loudon was incorporated by Edward ELI. in the year 1327, and the leopard’s head ha.s ever since been borne on the company’s ; shield. In addition to London and the six others mentioned there have been Assay Offices at ■ Bristol, Exeter, Newcastle-on-Tj'ne, Norwich and York, all of which are now closed. In Scotland, Edinbui'gh and Glasgow have this Srivilege : in Ireland, Dublin alone One of the uties imposed upon the Gold.smiths Company is to test ill articles of gold and silver, except certein small articles; and having tested them, to im- press the Hau. Mark thereon. Sterling silver is one invariable standard, viz., n oz. 2 dwts. of fine silver to 18 dwts. of alloy, which, when thus mixed, becomes stundard^ and a pound troy coined I into sixty-six shillings gives the nominal value of I 6d. to the troy ounce. There is, however, a : higher standard, viz., u oz. xo dwts. of fine silver , to 10 dwts. of alloy, and this was the only legal . standard for the manufacture of p’ate Ir.im i March 1697, to June 1720; after that date the tilJ ' standard was again adop' ed, but the higher stan- ! dard (commonly known as “ Britannia” .standur 1, j from the figure of Britannia on all such plate) still ; remained in use, and is used, though to a ^el7 I limited extent, at the present day. The Britannia I standard is denoted by a lion’s head erased, as well I 88 bythefigm-e of Britannia, the latter in place of ' the leopard’s head and lion passant seen on t-ilver I of the st*»rling standard. In at^rlmg gold there ’ are twenty-two car.its fine to two of alloy, the i value of which is ^^^3 iia. xo^d. In order to i encourage the home jewellery trade, other degiees of fineness are permitted, but these degrees are marked on articles sent tq the Hall” for the purpose. The value of the various sfaniards per , ounce troy ar?— £ s. d. Pure gold, 24 carats 4 4 Standard, 22 carats 3 17 10^ and ditto, 18 carats 3 3 3rd ditto, 15 carats 2 13 x 4th ditto, X2 carats 225^ 5th ditto, 9 carats 1 11 ioJ4 An ordinary piece of English silver plate has the following mork.s: X. That of the maker, which must be the first letters of his Chi'istian and Suiname. 2. That of the Company, the Leopard’s Bead (this in London only). 3. ’That which is supposed to be the I Sovereign's mark, the lion passant. I 4. A letter denoting the year in which the plate is made, e.g [And, in me case of those articles which were chai-geable with duty, the Sovereign’s Head; this is now no longer impressed, the duty having been abolished in June 1890.] The maker’s mark is placed upon the article by the manufacturer himself. The Sovereign’s Head does not appear upon plate manxifactur^ prior to the year 1784. And for the first year or so after its introduction it appeared in intaglio with the profile turned to theleft; subsequently itappeared in relief liVe ihe other assay marks with the head turned to theright, although Queen Victoria’s head is tui’ned to the left again. The leopard’s head is without crown from 1823. In respect to gold plate we have precise’y the ' same murks, with the exception of a crown in place of the lion passant and the degree of fine- ness as above stated; although previous to 1798 there was absolutely no distinguishing mark between gold of 18 cai-ats and silver-plate, nor until 1844 for 22-camt gold. To prevent the im- portation of foreign plate of a lower stfindnrd than that required of Englidi plate, all such plate of recent manufacture must be assayed aod marked ia the same way as that of home produc- tion, but w'ith the addition of the letter F to de- note iis foreign origin. Though there is now no duty upon gold and silver plate, the Hall marking is compulsoiy ; no one can complain of this, as the charge for assay- ing and marking at Goldsmiths’ Hall is little more than nominal, that for a dozen tea-spoons being but 3<i., and for a dozen table spoons or forks and other wares weighing 5 oz. each and upwards one halfpenny per oz. By the following table of date-marks the age of any piece of plate manufactured in London and assayed at Goldsmiths’ Hall may be’ ascertained: Lombardic, simple.. Lomburdic, external cusps Lombardic, double cusps Black letter, small., 1438-9 to 1457-8 1458-9 .. 1477-8 1478-9 1497-9 1498-9 .. • 517-S V. HITAKEB'S AliMAKAC’K, 19CO. Lombardic Roman and other capitals Black letter, small,. Roman letter, capitals Lombardic, external cusps Italic letter, small.... Court hand Black letter, capitals Black letter, small..,. Court hand Ihdl Maries on Plate. 693 I iOld English, small 1856 7 to 1875-6 Roman letter, capitals. Roman letter, small Old English, capitals... Roman letter, small . Roman letter, capitals Roman letter, small ... Old English, capitals . 518 9 to 1537-8 ’538-9 n 1557 8 ’558 9 .. *577-8 1578-9 to 1597-8 ‘598-9 .. *8x7-8 ifijR-O „ 1637-8 1638-9 „ 1657-8 >658-9 „ 1677-8 >678-9 „ 1696-7 1697 .. 171.5-6 Prom March 1697 on .V, see ool. 1 ' of p- 692. >7*6-7 „ *735-6 *736-7 ti 1755-6 1756-7 » *775-6 >776-7 It 1795-6 1796-7 n ‘815-6 1816-7 „ 1835-6 836-7 H 1855-6 Roman letter, capitals Roman letter, small.. 1876-7 „ 1895-6 1896-7 „ 1915-6 Each Assay Office has its distinCTilshing mark in lieu of the Leopard’s Head of Goldsmiths’ Hall, and its oivn cycle and chronological alphabet. The type and the shape of shield on which the letters are impressed change with each cycle. The collector with even limiiei expciienc 5 will find bub little difficulty in distinguishing a letter of one cycle from than of another, piesumiog hie knowledge to bo insufficient to judge by tlie s'yle and period of the article itself, e.g.: An article marked with the letter j^j 1721-2 can be distinguished from letter |]0 1801-2 by the differencein the shape of the respective shields; as also tho^e containing the crowned leopard’s head and the lion pass^mt; the ab'ence of tl. >| sovereign’s head in the foimer os again.st itspri - senee in the latter case; the differenc fonn of the leopard’s head; and lastly, the iireguUiity of the stamp in the first case as compared with the uni- formity of the latter atainp. These ajain can be distinguihhed from i83i-2 as before, by the d'tfevent shield of the date letter only (the shields of the remaining maiks being the same as those of iSoi-2); the absence nf crown on leopard’s head, and the presence of the Queen’s vice the King’s head. The London Goldsmiths’ letter for the year ending 29th May, 1900, is cl, on a shield shaped like that of the last specimen shown above : that for 1901 is the letter Ass.ir Offick.s out of London. Assay Ofnee, Chester , Sheffield ... E'linbm^h Glasgow ... 1 Dislingci^hioft Mark. •utter for IQOO-OX. Cycle. An Anchor M Years. 25 The City Anns (3 I garbs and a \a.n. 25 or 20 1 sword) 'A Crown 0 It Vari’ble (20tO25) Ia Castle t 25 'Tree, Fi-sh, and 1 Bell jcD, 26 (A Harp, crowned (£ 25 ' The date letters are chani^ed in the middleiof e.irh WHITAKER'S ALMANACK. lOrill.