I have read the various notices in Nos. 3, 5, and 6. on the subject of
these dishes. I have an electrotype copy from such a dish, the original
of which is in Manchester. The device is like No. 4. of those of
CLERICUS (No. 3. p. 44.); but two circles of inscription extend round
the central device (the Grapes of Escol), in characters which are
supposed to be Saracenic. The inner inscription is five times, the outer
seven times, repeated in the round. I see by the _Archaeological
Journal_, No. 23, for Sept. 1849 (pp.295-6.), that at the meeting of
Archaeological Institute, on the 1st June last, Mr. Octavius Morgan,
M.P., exhibited a collection of ancient salvers or chargers, supposed to
be of latten; several ornamented with sacred devices and inscriptions,
including some remarkable examples of the curious florid letter, forming
legends, which have so long perplexed antiquaries in all parts of
Europe. Mr. Morgan arranged the devices in four classes, the first being
chargers or large dishes, supposed by him to have been fabricated at
Nuremburg. The northern antiquary, Sjöborg, who has written much on the
subject, calls them baptismal or alms dishes. Their most common devices
are, Adam and Eve (probably the No. 3. of CLERICUS), St. George, and the
Grapes of Eschol (No. 4. of CLERICUS). On one of those exhibited was the
Annunciation (No. 2. of CLERICUS). On these facts I wish to put the
following queries:--