Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
CHATS ON
OLD SILVER
BOOKS FOR COLLECTORS
_With Frontispieces and many Illustrations._
CHATS ON ENGLISH CHINA.
By ARTHUR HAYDEN.
CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE.
By ARTHUR HAYDEN.
CHATS ON OLD PRINTS.
(How to collect and value Old Engravings.)
By ARTHUR HAYDEN.
CHATS ON COSTUME.
By G. WOOLLISCROFT RHEAD.
CHATS ON OLD LACE AND NEEDLEWORK.
By E. L. LOWES.
CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA.
By J. F. BLACKER.
CHATS ON OLD MINIATURES.
By J. J. FOSTER, F.S.A.
CHATS ON ENGLISH EARTHENWARE.
(Companion volume to “Chats on English China.”)
By ARTHUR HAYDEN.
CHATS ON AUTOGRAPHS.
By A. M. BROADLEY.
CHATS ON PEWTER.
By H. J. L. J. MASSÉ M.A.
CHATS ON POSTAGE STAMPS.
By FRED. J. MELVILLE.
CHATS ON OLD JEWELLERY AND TRINKETS.
By MACIVER PERCIVAL.
CHATS ON COTTAGE AND FARMHOUSE FURNITURE.
(Companion volume to “Chats on Old Furniture.”)
By ARTHUR HAYDEN.
CHATS ON OLD COINS.
By FRED. W. BURGESS.
CHATS ON OLD COPPER AND BRASS.
By FRED. W. BURGESS.
CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS.
By FRED. W. BURGESS.
CHATS ON OLD SILVER.
By ARTHUR HAYDEN.
CHATS ON JAPANESE PRINTS.
By ARTHUR DAVISON FICKE.
CHATS ON MILITARY CURIOS.
By STANLEY C. JOHNSON.
CHATS ON OLD CLOCKS AND WATCHES.
By ARTHUR HAYDEN.
CHATS ON ROYAL COPENHAGEN PORCELAIN.
By ARTHUR HAYDEN.
CHATS ON OLD SHEFFIELD PLATE.
(Companion volume to “Chats on Old Silver.”)
By ARTHUR HAYDEN.
CHATS ON OLD ENGLISH DRAWINGS.
By RANDALL DAVIES.
CHATS ON WEDGWOOD WARE.
By HARRY BARNARD.
BYE PATHS OF CURIO COLLECTING.
By ARTHUR HAYDEN.
With Frontispiece and 72 Full page Illustrations.
* * * * *
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN, LTD.
NEW YORK: F. A. STOKES COMPANY.
* * * * *
[Illustration: COFFEE-POT.
GEORGE II PERIOD, 1741.
Maker, Peter Archambo.
_Frontispiece._]
CHATS ON
OLD SILVER
BY
ARTHUR HAYDEN
AUTHOR OF
“CHATS ON COTTAGE AND FARMHOUSE FURNITURE,” ETC.
WITH FRONTISPIECE AND
NINETY-NINE FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
TOGETHER WITH
ILLUSTRATED TABLES OF MARKS
T. FISHER UNWIN LTD
LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE
_First published 1915_
_Second Impression 1917_
_Third Impression 1919_
_Fourth Impression 1922_
_Fifth Impression 1925_
(_All rights reserved_)
TO
ALFRED DAVIES,
IN REMEMBRANCE
OF OUR FRIENDSHIP
PREFACE
The study of old silver usually begins when the inquiring possessor of
family plate sets himself the task of ascertaining the date and the
probable value of some piece long in his family and possibly lately
bequeathed to him.
With old china, and probably with old furniture, the taste for
collecting is oftentimes an acquired one, but it is in the Englishman’s
blood to ruminate over his old plate, and the hall-marks of the assay
offices in London and in the provinces, in Scotland and in Ireland,
have been placed thereon with aforethought. The plate closet is cousin
to the strong-box, inasmuch as the coin of the realm and gold and
silver plate have been subjected to stringent laws extending over
a period of five hundred years. The technical word “hall-mark” has
become a common term in the language synonymous with genuineness.
The strictest supervision, under the parental eye of the law, has
upheld the dignity of the silversmiths guarantees. Hence the pride of
possession of old silver. Pictures and furniture and engravings whose
ancestry is doubtful thrust themselves in the market without fear
of the watchful official eye. But old silver bearing the hall-marks
of ancient and honourable guilds of silversmiths, stamped at the
accredited assay offices, is, with few exceptions, what it purports to
be. It is a proud record and a splendid heritage.
In dealing with the subject of old silver in a volume of this size
sufficient details have been given to enable the collector to identify
his silver if it be in the main stream of silversmiths’ work. On the
whole, except where it is necessary in certain fields to illustrate
the only examples, sumptuous specimens have been avoided in the
illustrations as being outside the scope of this volume and the public
to whom it is intended to appeal.
The collector of old silver must have a pretty taste and a fine
judgment. It is not an absolute law that age determines beauty.
Hall-marks, though they denote date, do not guarantee excellence
of design. Everything that bears the hall-mark of the Goldsmiths’
Hall of London is not beautiful, whether it be old or whether it be
new. The connoisseur must digest the fact that the assay marks of
the lion, the leopard’s head, the date-mark, and the rest, are so
many official symbols, accurate as to date and sufficient guarantee
as to the standard of the metal, but meaningless in regard to the
art of the piece on which they stand. The assay offices are merely
stamping machines. What Somerset House is to legal documents so the
assay offices are to silver and gold plate, and nothing more. Hence
the necessity of placing such mechanical control under Government
supervision.
The excellence of a piece of plate is governed by the same laws which
control all other branches of decorative art.
Rarity is a factor not especially treated in this volume. Rare
specimens are not necessarily beautiful even though they be unique.
In covering so wide a field in so small a volume, much has had to be
omitted. There are many volumes on old English silver plate, but in
regard to research, the work of Mr. C. J. Jackson, “English Goldsmiths
and their Marks,” with over eleven thousand marks, stands alone and
supplants all other volumes. Every collector must regard this work as
the bible of silver-plate collecting.
I have given sufficient space to marks in the present volume to
indicate those used by the London and other assay offices. Some marks
are given which do not appear elsewhere, and the arrangement of the
tables should enable the beginner to come to a definite conclusion as
to the date of his silver. In especial, the Table of variations in
the shapes of shields in the hall-mark and standard-mark employed at
the London Assay Office from the accession of Queen Elizabeth to the
present day, is a feature not before given in so concise a form in any
other volume.
The marks on silver are stamped, the design thus appears in relief,
while the edges of the shield on which it appears are sunk. The
reproduction of this has offered a difficulty in illustration in
all volumes on old silver. To print black letters or designs on a
white background, although easy, is unsatisfactory. On the contrary,
to print the raised design in white on a dead black background is
not a realistic presentation of the mark as it appears to the eye.
After many experiments I have reproduced the marks in a manner more
closely approaching their actual appearance, and less suggestive of
black-and-white designs on paper.
I have to express my thanks for the kind assistance I have received
in regard to photographs and wax casts and drawings of marks, and
for permission to include them in this volume as illustrations, to
the following: the authorities of the Victoria and Albert Museum,
the British Museum, and the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh. By the
courtesy of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers and the Worshipful
Company of Mercers I am enabled to reproduce some fine examples from
their Halls. To Lord Dillon I am indebted for his courtesy in allowing
the inclusion of an interesting example in his possession.
Messrs. Crichton Brothers have afforded me access to their records,
including the use of copyright photographs of specimens which have
passed through their hands, and courteous assistance in reproducing
examples in their possession. Messrs. Elkington & Co., and Messrs.
Garrard & Co., have similarly extended to me their practical aid;
Messrs. John Ellett Lake & Son, of Exeter, have enabled me to do
justice to the art of the Exeter silversmith, and Messrs. Harris and
Sinclair, of Dublin, have enriched my chapter on Irish silver. I have
also to acknowledge the kindness of Messrs. Carrington & Co. for the
_Frontispiece_ and for the fine design of an Irish Dish Ring shown on
the cover. Mr. A. E. Smith, my photographer, has given exceptional care
in obtaining good results.
It is, therefore, my hope that this volume will stand as an
authoritative outline history of the subject of which it treats,
that it may point the way to possessors of old silver to arrive at
sound conclusions as to their heirlooms, and that it may indicate to
collectors the salient features of their hobby.
ARTHUR HAYDEN.
_January 1915._
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE 11
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 19
CHAPTER I
THE MARKS STAMPED UPON SILVER 23
CHAPTER II
ECCLESIASTICAL PLATE 65
CHAPTER III
THE MAZER, THE STANDING CUP, THE FLAGON, THE TANKARD,
THE BEAKER, THE WINE CUP 83
CHAPTER IV
THE SALT CELLAR 139
CHAPTER V
THE SPOON 177
CHAPTER VI
THE POSSET-POT, THE PORRINGER 195
CHAPTER VII
THE CANDLESTICK 221
CHAPTER VIII
THE TEAPOT, THE COFFEE-POT, THE TEA-CADDY 239
CHAPTER IX
THE CASTER, THE SUGAR-BOWL, THE CREAM-PAIL, THE CAKE-BASKET 267
CHAPTER X
THE CREAM-JUG 299
CHAPTER XI
SCOTTISH SILVER 311
CHAPTER XII
IRISH SILVER 329
APPENDIX, CONTAINING TABLES OF DATE LETTERS.
LONDON (1598-1835) 347
TABLE OF DIFFERENCES IN SHIELDS. LONDON
(ELIZABETH TO GEORGE V) 357
ILLUSTRATIONS OF MARKS: LONDON, PROVINCIAL,
SCOTTISH, AND IRISH 359
INDEX 411
ILLUSTRATIONS
George II Coffee Pot, 1741. Maker, Peter Archambo. _Frontispiece_
PAGE
CHAPTER II.--ECCLESIASTICAL PLATE
Elizabethan Chalices 67
Elizabethan Chalice; Charles I Chalice 71
Charles II Cup; William III Flagons 75
Charles II and Queen Anne Patens 79
George II Communion Cup 81
CHAPTER III.--THE STANDING CUP, THE FLAGON, THE TANKARDS, THE BEAKERS,
AND THE WINE CUP
Mazer, with inscription dated Exeter, 1490 87
The Leigh Cup and Cover, 1499 91
Cup and Cover, 1585 95
Stoneware Jug with Silver Cover and Foot, 1570 95
The Samuel Pepys Standing Cup and Cover, 1677 99
Flagon, 1572; Flagon, 1599 105
Tankards, Charles II, 1679, and William III, 1701 111
Charles II Tankards, York, 1684 111
Queen Anne Tankard, Exeter, 1705 115
Mug, 1733, and Tankard, 1748, Exeter 117
Beakers: James I, 1606; Charles I, 1631; Charles II, 1671 121
James I Wine Cup 125
Stuart Wine Cups; Seventeenth-century Candlestick 129
“Monteith” Punch-bowl, 1704 135
CHAPTER IV.--THE SALT CELLAR
Hour-glass Standing Salt Cellar, 1500 143
Bell-shaped Salt Cellar, 1601 147
Circular Salt Cellar, 1638 151
Octagonal Salt Cellar, 1679, “The Sumner Salt” 155
Lambeth Delft and Rouen faience Salt Cellars 161
Group of Small Circular Salts, Queen Anne, George II, and
George III 165
Salts with Glass Liner, George III 167
Group of Oblong Salts with three feet, George III 167
Group of Salt Cellars, George III, showing transition 171
Group of Salt Cellars, George III, George IV, and William IV 173
CHAPTER V.--THE SPOON
Seventeenth-century Spoons 181
Seventeenth and Eighteenth-century Spoons 185
Seventeenth and Eighteenth-century Spoons 189
CHAPTER VI.--THE POSSET-POT AND THE PORRINGER
Commonwealth Porringer, 1653 197
Charles II Posset-pot and Cover, 1662;
Porringer, Silver-gilt, 1669 197
Charles II Porringer, 1666 201
Charles II Posset-cup and Cover, 1679 201
Posset-pot and Cover, 1683 205
Charles II Porringer, 1672 209
Queen Anne Porringer, Exeter, 1707 209
James II Posset-cup and Cover, 1685 213
Staffordshire Earthenware Posset-cup, dated 1685 213
Plum Broth Dish and Ladle, 1697 217
CHAPTER VII.--THE CANDLESTICK
Charles I Candlestick, 1637 223
Lambeth Delft Candlestick, dated 1648 223
Charles II Candlesticks, 1673 227
Snuffers and Tray, 1682 231
Candlesticks Queen Anne, 1704, 1706; George I, 1721 231
Candlestick, Sheffield, 1782 235
CHAPTER VIII.--THE COFFEE-POT, THE TEAPOT, THE TEA-CADDY
Coffee-pot, Newcastle, 1737 243
Teapot (Honourable East India Company), 1670 243
Teapot, 1745 247
Kettle, with Stand and Spirit-lamp, 1746 251
Group of Coffee-pots and Teapots 255
Tea-caddies, Exeter, 1718; London, 1730 259
George III Tea-caddies 259
Pair of Tea-caddies and Sugar-box, 1760 263
CHAPTER IX.--THE CASTER, THE SUGAR-BOWL, THE CREAM-PAIL, THE CAKE-BASKET
William III and Queen Anne Casters, 1701 and 1712 269
George II Caster, Exeter, 1728 273
Group of Casters, William III, George II, and George III 277
Centre-piece, 1761 279
Centre-piece, 1775 279
Sugar-bowl, Classic Style, 1773 283
Sugar-bowl, Pierced Work with Glass Liners (late
Eighteenth Century) 285
Cream-pails, 1776, 1782 285
Bread-baskets, 1745 to 1775 289
Cake-basket, 1761; Wedgwood Cake-basket 291
Wedgwood Earthenware Dessert-baskets 295
CHAPTER X.--THE CREAM-JUG
Jug, Paul de Lamerie, 1736 301
Group of Cream-jugs, George I and George III 305
Group of Cream-jugs, late George III 309
CHAPTER XI.--SCOTTISH SILVER
Scottish Quaich, Edinburgh, 1705 313
Mug, Edinburgh, 1790 313
Sugar-caster, Edinburgh, 1746 317
Coffee-pot, Edinburgh, 1769 321
Tea-urn, Edinburgh, 1778 325
CHAPTER XII.--IRISH SILVER
Caster, Dublin (George Lyng), 1699 331
Loving-cup, with harp handles, Cork, 1694 331
Centre-piece, Dublin, 1740 335
Cream-jug, signed by Jonathan Buck, Cork, 1764 339
Cream-jug, Dublin, 1740 339
Cream-pail, Dublin, 1770 343
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER I
Alphabets of Date Letters used at London Assay Office 347-355
Table showing variations in Hall and Standard Marks 357
Series of Examples of London Assay Marks 359-385
Series of Examples of Provincial Assay Marks 387-399
Series of Examples of Scottish and Irish Assay Marks 401-409
I
THE MARKS STAMPED
UPON SILVER
I. THE HALL-MARK
II. THE STANDARD MARK
III. THE DATE MARK
IV. THE MAKER’S MARK
V. THE HIGHER STANDARD MARK
VI. THE DUTY MARK
VII. THE FOREIGN MARK
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER (pp. 347-409)
Illustrations of typical Marks
CHAPTER I
THE MARKS STAMPED UPON SILVER
I. =The Hall-mark.= Its significance--The hall-mark compulsory by
law--Various hall-marks.--II. =The Standard Mark.= The silver
standards--The Lion _passant_ (England), the Thistle (Scotland),
and the Harp (Ireland).--III. =The Date Mark.= The alphabets
used by the various assay offices.--IV. =The Maker’s Mark.=
Initials of surname--Later usage, determined by law, initials
of Christian and surnames.--V. =The Higher Standard Mark.= The
lion’s head erased and the figure of Britannia (compulsory from
1697 to 1720, optional afterwards).--VI. =The Duty Mark.= The
reigning sovereign’s head from George III to Victoria (1784 to
1890).--VII. =The Foreign Mark.= Foreign silver plate assayed in
the United Kingdom to bear an additional mark.
I. THE HALL-MARK
This is the mark stamped upon gold or silver plate by a recognized
guild, and signifies that the object so stamped has successfully passed
the assay applied to it to determine its quality. British hall-marks
possess a reputation which they undoubtedly deserve. “In this country
the system has existed substantially in its present form since the
reign of Edward I.”[1] In this reign, under statutory authority, it
was laid down that all silver made in England was to be as good as
the silver coin or better, and provincial silversmiths (one from each
centre) were to proceed to London to have their work assayed and have
the mark of the leopard’s head stamped upon it. For six centuries the
hall-mark of the wardens of the “Mistery of Goldsmiths” of the city of
London has stood as a guarantee of value, and is intended to afford
sufficient protection to the purchaser.
This hall-mark, or town mark as it came to be known later, denotes the
place where the assay was made. It was struck on all such articles as
would bear the “Touch”; this is the technical term synonymous with
assaying. As will be seen subsequently, the hall-mark does not stand
alone. Very early it was deemed expedient to stamp some further mark,
which should denote the date when the piece was actually assayed at the
hall or assay office.
This second assay mark, or warden’s mark, is known as the date letter.
The Company of Goldsmiths in London, incorporated by charter in 1327,
possessed plenary powers which they exercised with considerable rigour.
They framed stringent regulations determining trade customs, they kept
a watchful eye on recalcitrant members who showed any tendency to lower
the dignity of the craft, and they punished with severity all those who
counterfeited the official marks of the hall.
This dominance over the everyday transactions of the worker in plate
was supported by a series of Acts of Parliament extending over a
lengthy period. They are highly technical, and the study of hall-marks
is of a complex nature, and adds no inconsiderable task to the hobby
of collecting old silver. In the main it will be seen that the power
at first exclusively conferred on the London Goldsmiths’ Company, and
afterwards distributed to various assay offices in the United Kingdom,
has been kept under due subjection by the Crown and by parliamentary
legislation. There is no trade more protected by Acts of Parliament
governing the details of its procedure. The fashioning of gold and
silver plate being so intimately related to questions of currency and
affecting the coin of the realm, it is not surprising to find that
the tendency of legislation has been to relieve the old guilds of
much of their former power. We find that one of the recommendations
of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on hall-marking, in
1879, was that the whole of the assay offices should be placed under
the supervision of the Royal Mint, in order that a uniform standard of
quality should be guaranteed.
We have seen that the London assay office is the _doyen_ of assay
offices. At first, plate, although wrought elsewhere, had to bear the
London hall-mark of the leopard’s head. Seven cities were appointed, by
a statute of Henry VI in 1423, to exercise the right of assaying plate,
viz. Salisbury and Bristol for the West Country, Newcastle and York for
the North Country, Coventry for the Midlands, Lincoln and Norwich for
East Anglia, and London, of course, continued its functions.
Eighteenth Century Assay Offices
At the beginning of the eighteenth century three out of these seven,
Lincoln, Salisbury, and Coventry, had discontinued to assay silver, and
it was not thought necessary to reappoint them. In 1700 York, Bristol,
and Norwich were, in the reign of William III, reappointed for assaying
and marking wrought silver. By the same Act, 12 William, _cap._ 4,
two new assay offices were appointed, Exeter and Chester, and in the
beginning of the following reign by 1 Anne, _cap._ 9, Newcastle was
also reappointed. At the end of the eighteenth century, in 1773, two
additional assay offices were created at Birmingham and at Sheffield by
13 George III, _cap._ 52. London, during all this time had continued to
assay silver in unbroken continuity from the fourteenth century.
It has been estimated by those who have a large quantity of old silver
plate passing through their hands, that, in spite of the number of
provincial assay offices, over 90 per cent. of old English silver bears
the London hall-mark.
The Hall-marks of the Various Assay Offices
In the Appendix (pp. 347-409) are illustrations showing the various
hall-marks used at different periods by the wardens and assay masters
of the appointed cities. The following indicate the chief marks used.
=London= (the leopard’s head, sometimes like a king on a pack of cards,
and later, when uncrowned, like a tiger’s head). =Chester= (an upright
sword between three wheatsheaves). =Newcastle=, closed in 1884 (three
castles set in a shield, two over one, similar in arrangement to the
Chester wheatsheaves). =Exeter=, closed in 1883 (early mark letter X
with crown above. After 1701 three castles, sometimes joined together
as one castle with three towers, similar to Edinburgh mark). =Norwich=
(castle above with lion beneath; the castle is less like a castle than
any other of the castle marks). =York=, closed in 1856 (early mark
a fleur-de-lis, showing only half, the other half undecipherable,
conjectured by some authorities to be a rose, by others a leopard’s
head; this latter is now accepted as correct, and clearly shows in some
examples; later mark shield with cross of England and five lions).
=Birmingham= (an anchor), =Sheffield= (a crown), =Edinburgh= (a castle
with three towers). =Glasgow= (a tree with a bird perched on top, and a
tiny bell suspended from boughs, a fish transversely across the trunk).
=Dublin= (figure of Hibernia since 1730). Cork (ship and castle, two
marks).
The Varying Number of Marks Used
It is an interesting fact, and extremely puzzling to beginners in the
study of hall-marks, to find that the provincial offices used, in
addition to their own place-mark, the leopard’s head of the London
assay office. From 1697 to 1719 the leopard’s head disappears from all
silver, for the reason which is given in detail in Section V of this
chapter--“The Higher Standard Mark” (pp. 49-59). In its place two other
marks occur--the lion’s head erased and the figure of Britannia. These
were only used in London between the years 1697 and 1701, during which
five years provincial offices ceased to assay any silver. This is a
hiatus in provincial marks which the beginner should note. From 1701 to
1719 the provincial offices used their place-marks together with the
two new marks (the lion’s head erased and the figure of Britannia),
which were compulsory by law. This law was repealed in 1719 and
London reverted to the old style mark of the leopard’s head, so that
London-marked silver of 1720 is marked with the same number of marks as
that before the Act of 1697, that is four marks. But it appears that
the provinces for a long period did not revert to the old style of
marking. Newcastle, for instance, adds the leopard’s head from 1720 in
addition to her town mark; Exeter similarly took the leopard’s head in
1720. Chester also added another mark, the leopard’s head, at the same
time.
The result of this is that before 1701 Chester had four marks,
sometimes only three, but after 1720 five were used; when the duty mark
was added (see p. 395) six marks were employed. The leopard’s head was
not discontinued till 1839, reducing the marks to five, and now, since
the abolition of the duty mark in 1890, there are only four. Exeter
had, with the use of the leopard’s head, five marks, but in 1748 the
leopard’s head had disappeared. Newcastle continued the leopard’s head
during the period of the duty mark, thus making six marks, till the
closing of the office in 1884.
II. THE STANDARD MARK
Throughout the history of the manufacture of English silver plate
the standard maintained has been always equal to that of the silver
coinage, and sometimes higher. The control of the standard has long
been in the hands of the State, and, it has already been shown,
the proving or assaying of all articles, in order that they may be
officially stamped as of sterling silver, was allocated to the wardens
and assay masters of the London and other assay offices. Obviously if
it had been permitted to manufacture silver plate at a lower standard
than the coin of the realm, the latter would have been melted down
to be made into plate at a profit. In order to regulate the uniform
procedure of the trade throughout the country the amount of alloy to
be added to silver was very clearly laid down by law. The standard for
silver has been in force for six hundred years, since the reign of
Henry II, viz. 11 oz. 2 dwts. of silver and 18 dwts. alloy in every
pound troy of plate; that is 925 parts of silver in every thousand
parts. From the year 1697 to 1720 the standard was fixed at 11 oz.
10 dwts. of silver to the pound troy, that is .958. This higher or
“Britannia” standard is described in Section V of this chapter (pp.
49-59). In regard to this new standard, that is a standard above the
sterling of the coin of the realm, special marks were used during the
above period and have been used since then to the present day whenever
silver plate is of the new standard. It was illegal to make silver
plate of less than this new standard during the period 1697 to 1720;
after this period there are two standards, the higher being optional.
Another period when silver plate was higher in standard than the silver
coin of the realm was during a portion of the reigns of Henry VIII,
the whole of the reign of Edward VI, and the whole of the reign of
Mary, until Elizabeth in the second year of her reign elevated the
debased coinage to its former standard of fineness. In 1543 Henry VIII
reduced the standard from 11 oz. 2 dwts. to 10 oz.; that is, ten parts
of silver to two parts of alloy. In 1545 he reduced it further to 6
oz. in the pound troy, that is half silver and half alloy. In 1546 he
made a still further reduction to 4 oz., so that silver coins of that
period contain only one third silver. In 1552 this was increased to
11 oz. 1 dwt., to be reduced to 11 oz. in Mary’s reign. During all
these changes the silver plate remained true to its old standard, and
as though in proud superiority over the coin of the realm, the London
Goldsmiths adopted in 1545 as a standard mark a new stamp--_the lion
passant_, which has been their standard mark from that day to the
present time, and has been recognized by many statutes since that time
as constituting the standard mark, or sterling mark of the State, or,
as it was termed at the time of Queen Elizabeth, “Her Majesty’s Lion.”
On two occasions, therefore, the silver plate of this country was of
finer quality than the coin of the realm: on the first when the coin
of the realm was debased, and on the second when silver plate was
compulsorily raised to a higher standard than the coin of the realm.
The lion _passant_, which is the standard mark, has naturally been
employed by provincial offices as a guarantee of sterling or standard
silver. During the period 1697 to 1720 the lion _passant_ disappears
from all silver in the “Britannia” standard period when other marks
were substituted. But in 1720 the lion _passant_ mark occurs again on
all London silver, and in Chester, Exeter, York, and Newcastle marks.
From 1773 both Sheffield and Birmingham have used the mark of the lion
_passant_. In regard to Scotland, the standard mark for Edinburgh,
after 1757, is a thistle, and for Glasgow a lion _rampant_ after 1819.
The Irish standard mark is a harp crowned from the year 1638, which
mark is on all Irish silver assayed at the Dublin office. From 1730
the figure of Hibernia has been the duty mark and the harp crowned the
standard mark on all Irish silver assayed at Dublin. These marks are
shown in Appendix (pp. 347-409).
III. THE DATE MARK
Among the various marks used for the purposes we have indicated, the
date mark is one which has a vital significance. It establishes with
certainty the year in which a piece of silver was fashioned and taken
to the assay office to be stamped as sterling silver. The easiest
plan in regard to date marks would have been to stamp the actual date
upon each piece of silver or gold assayed, but this was too simple a
procedure for the “Mistery of the Goldsmiths.” They employed alphabets
of various styles and each year was represented by a different letter,
and to add further to the puzzling difficulty of deciphering these
symbols, certain letters were omitted. Moreover, each assay town
has its own series of date marks. Letters of the alphabet are used
sometimes from A to T, or A to U, or from A to Z; sometimes the letters
J and V are omitted, and in one case for a considerable period the
letters of the alphabet were used indiscriminately. Various kinds of
type were used and they appear in shields of differing shapes. The
study therefore of the date marks of the London assay office and of
the various provincial assay offices together with the date marks used
in Scotland and in Ireland is very intricate, and the determination
of these with exactitude might occupy a man the greater portion of
his life. The standard work on the subject is “English Goldsmiths and
their Marks,” by Mr. C. J. Jackson, which contains over eleven thousand
marks reproduced in facsimile. Mr. Jackson in the 1905 edition had
worked for seventeen years at this subject, and his labours have been
stupendous; a new edition shortly to appear will represent a quarter
of a century’s work. There is no other book on the subject within
measurable distance of this encyclopaedia.
It is obvious that in the present volume only a limited number of marks
can be illustrated, but the author has given typical examples covering
the London marks, which are the most important, and a few examples
from most of the provincial assay offices as well as from Scotland and
Ireland. These will be found in the Appendix (pp. 347-409).
London
The Goldsmiths’ Company of London has an honourable and ancient history
and must be regarded as the leading spirit in regard to hall-marks. It
is admitted that, from a public point of view, the hall-marks stamped
on silver by the various assay offices have a very definite meaning.
“Our hall-marks afford a guarantee of value to which, it is not to
be wondered at, considerable importance attaches, since these goods
may safely be regarded as an investment.” The true function of the
Goldsmiths’ Company is a protective one--protective in the interests
of honest traders, protective in the interests of public buyers. We
suggest that they might perform an educational service by throwing open
their assay office to public inspection. Neither the Royal Mint nor the
Bank of England may be said to be an inaccessible holy of holies. The
assaying of silver and gold is a process which affects the pocket of
the public to a large extent.
As custodians of historic archives of no insignificant value, there is
no reason why such records should not be as readily accessible to the
general student as are the papers in the Public Record Office which
divulge bygone State secrets. Possibly if the assaying were placed
under Government supervision, as has so often been strongly advocated,
these things might come to pass.
In regard to data undoubtedly the Goldsmiths’ Company can claim an
ancient record. They are proudly jealous of their reputation and
rightly anxious to guard the public interest. There is no doubt that
“the laws of hall-marking, scattered as they are over a multitude of
statutes, are highly technical, and not the least necessary reform is
their consolidation.” The Goldsmiths’ Company was once a trade guild,
but this is the twentieth century, and they exist solely in the public
interest. To-morrow they could be swept aside by an Act of Parliament,
and all silver could be assayed and stamped at the Royal Mint or by
Government assayers.
In regard to the date letters the London Assay Office has consistently,
with one exception, 1696, adhered to twenty letters in each alphabet,
that is from A to U (omitting J). But the provincial offices were
wofully erratic and exhibit a looseness and want of system in not
adhering to the same arrangement of alphabets in succeeding periods.
It is not necessary to follow these eccentricities in detail, a few
examples will suffice. Newcastle from 1702 to 1720 employed the
alphabet as follows:--A (1702), B (1703), D (1705), F (1707), M (1712),
O (1716), P (1717), Q (1718), D (1719), E (1720). Some of these were
used for more than one year. In the next two periods, 1721 to 1739
and 1740 to 1758, the alphabet ends at T. Later alphabets run to Z.
Chester employed an alphabet sometimes ending in X, sometimes in V, and
sometimes in U, and one series runs from A to Z (excluding J) from 1839
to 1863.
The result of the somewhat chaotic alphabet marks has been to focus
the attention of the collector too much on this particular side of the
subject. The identification of marks, the outward symbols of time and
place, have reduced the study of old silver to a somewhat lower plane
than it should occupy by right. It is proper that such determining
factors should have their place, but not the first place. There was a
time when china collectors ignored paste and glaze and laid particular
stress on marks, and it is a very happy accident that a great portion
of English porcelain and much of English earthenware is unmarked.
It has eventually led collectors to think for themselves and know
something more of the technique and to learn to appreciate the artistic
value of specimens of the potter’s art coming under their hand.
The collector of old silver, however, cannot hope to escape from
marks; they are an integral part of the subject, and coming as they
do under the strict surveillance of the law, they offer protection
to his investment and have the comforting assurance of gilt-edged
security. There is nothing of the subtle speculation as to exact
period which accompanies the acquisition of old furniture, nor is there
the same element of chance which governs the operations of the picture
collector. The hall-mark, the standard mark, the date mark, and the
maker’s mark stamped with mechanical precision proclaim “with damnable
iteration” the string of unalterable facts.
In regard to marks it is interesting to read what Mr. Octavius Morgan,
the pioneer of the study of hall-marks, says in 1852: “Every person who
is possessed of an article of gold or silver plate has most probably
observed a small group of marks stamped on some part of it. Few however
have, I believe, regarded them in any other light than as a proof that
the article so marked is made of the metal which it professes to be,
and that the metal itself is of a certain purity. And this is in fact
the real ultimate object and intention of these marks; but besides this
the archaeologist can deduce from them other important and interesting
information, as by them he can learn the precise year in which any
article bearing these marks was made. It is therefore to these marks
that I am about to direct attention with a view to elucidate their
history and peculiar meaning.” To Mr. Morgan’s labours in an unknown
field all subsequent writers on hall-marks are indebted. He was the
first collector who realized their importance. It seems amazing that up
to 1852 nothing appears to have been known to the intelligent layman
or the public at large of these symbols which had appeared on plate
for some six hundred years. It suggests the idea that the marking
was regarded in the nature of a trade secret. The “mistery” of the
Goldsmiths’ Company was not to be profaned by vulgar eyes. In the light
of this it may be conjectured that the chaotic arrangement of alphabets
came about not by accident but by design.
(_See Chronological List of Specimens illustrated in this volume, p.
414._)
IV. THE MAKER’S MARK
This of all the marks should be the most intimate and should indicate
the personal touch, as something coming from the craftsman to the
possessor. It is the heirloom which the old silversmith hands to
posterity. His mark signified his pride in his art, that is in the days
when craftsmen were artists and whatsoever their hand found to do they
did it with all their might. But the maker’s mark, set on it first by
his punch when he duly sent his apprentice to the assay office to have
it assayed and marked by the great functionaries of his guild, has
become eclipsed beside the imposing array of symbols stamped upon it
at the Goldsmiths’ Hall. That the piece exists and was brought into
being by the humble silversmith is of lesser importance than the row
of legally environed escutcheons signifying so much with such unerring
veracity: that it was assayed and found of standard quality, so down
comes the stamp of the lion _passant_; that the year was so and so
_anno domini_, down comes the stamp of the secret date letter, so
carefully guarded from the public; that the duty was paid, and not till
then, another stamp, this time with the king’s head; and last but not
least, down comes the stamp of the leopard’s head, denoting that all
this was done under the surveillance of the Mistery of Goldsmiths of
London. Hence the collector, who comes a century or two after these
great happenings, by capricious fate casts his lens on the signs manual
of standard, and proofs of place and date; but the bare initials of
the maker, which came first from the furnace to the assay office, now
come last, as insignificant letters merely denoting that the specimen
happened to have been made at all.
What would one give for a few human touches in connexion with our old
silver! We may imagine that our candlesticks of the year 1750 held the
flickering wax candles which were guttering when the dawn broke when
our great-great-grandfather lost his fortune at cards in the county of
--, or maybe it was somebody else’s grandfather. But this is in the
realms of fancy, and the fortune is literally fabulous. Why are there
no George Morlands in the silversmith’s craft? Cannot the guilds dig
out their romantic history from their archives? Just to think that
our designer of candelabra and flagons ran a fine career on Hounslow
Heath with gamesters and fighting men; or did he, just that once, have
a duel with young Lord What’s-his-Name in the Guards, and pinked him?
Did not the story get to White’s and to the Cocoa Tree Clubs, how the
tradesman scored! But no such thing. All these initials of makers are
empty of such vanities. We can do better with prints. Those who possess
the engraved work of Ryland have the satisfaction of knowing that he
was hounded by Bow Street runners and hid, like the modern Lefroy, at
Stepney, and that he was hanged for forgery.
There is William Blake, who dreamed as great dreams as Joseph of old,
who gave imaginary sittings to Pontius Pilate, who wrote wonderful
poetry, and who died in a garret. Copper-plates were dear, but he
had no poverty of invention, and since the days when as a child he
saw angels following the reapers in the corn, he lived for posterity
and left his record. But have gravers on silver and inventors of
symmetrical goblets of gold less blood than those who drew lines on
copper? There is something human missing in these strings of initials
and bare names so sedulously gathered together by dry-as-dust compilers.
In furniture, makers’ names have become household words. Chippendale,
Sheraton, Hepplewhite have created styles of their own. Of Sheraton
we have personal details piquant enough to add fresh lustre to his
satinwood creations. There is the story of the one teacup in the back
street of Soho, which was handed to his Scottish apprentice in the
little shop whence he issued his religious pamphlets.
In china the personal note is dominant--Josiah Wedgwood with his wooden
leg smashing vases at Etruria with “This won’t do for Josiah Wedgwood.”
Or Thomas Cookworthy dying of a broken heart in Virginia after his
life’s failure at Plymouth. Or the Brothers Elers with their secret
underground telephone in Bradwell Wood in Staffordshire.
In silver ware the Elizabethan and the Stuart periods run parallel with
furniture; the names of makers are rarely known. But in the eighteenth
century besides Paul de Lamerie, Paul Storr, F. Kandler, Peter
Archambo, Pierre Platel, and a few others the claim to fame of the
individual silversmith has been obliterated by the heart-searchings of
collectors for periods, such as the Higher Standard or the style termed
“Queen Anne.”
In 1739 the initials were by law altered from the first two letters of
the surname to the first letter of the surname and the first letter of
the Christian name. In earlier years the maker had a device--a dolphin,
a star, a cross, or any other symbol to denote his individual work.
Nowadays anonymity is further safeguarded by the Goldsmiths’ Company of
London, who admit names of firms. Their printed form runs: “Statement
to be made in writing by Manufacturers, Dealers and others, bringing or
sending Gold or Silver Plate to be Assayed and Hall-Marked.” Presumably
in the old days prentice work passed as that of the master. But the
prentice grew older and was allowed to come out into the light. But
X & Co., Y & Co., Z & Co. may send their stamps round to smaller and
more original men to impress on their work. The public, caring more
for the lion, _et cetera_, than for X, Y, and Z, know no better; as
for the real makers the public know nought. But we ask, is this the
way to encourage our workers in plate? Syndicates have no bowels of
compassion, but assay offices might be supposed to minister to the
interests of the art of the worker in precious metals. To kill or to
stifle individuality is a crime against Art. If Sheraton had been a
silversmith his name would have been unknown.
By law it has been determined that the initials of the maker shall
appear on each article of silver assayed; there is nothing in any
statute concerning the middle man. It would be interesting to know
what steps the various assay offices take to ascertain that the actual
maker’s name is upon the pieces to which they affix their official
symbols.
To go back to the fourteenth century: there is a fine touch of human
nature recorded of one member of the goldsmiths’ guild of London who
was found guilty of _mals outrages_ in connexion with his work. He was
fined a pipe of wine, and twelve pence a week for one year to a poor
member of the company.
Among the human touches left there are fragments recorded which are
interesting to collectors. Sir Thomas Gresham, the great London
goldsmith in the middle sixteenth century, carried on business in
Lombard Street at the sign of the Grasshopper. To this day there is a
grasshopper as a weathercock behind the Royal Exchange.
There is Sir Robert Vyner, who made the coronation crown jewels for
Charles II, afterwards stolen by Colonel Blood and scattered in the
Minories, who was a goldsmith of Lombard Street. He entertained Charles
II during his mayorality. Sir Robert, when he had well drunken, grew
very familiar with the king, who wished to steal away without ceremony
and proceed to his coach. But the mayor pursued him to Guildhall yard,
and catching hold of him exclaimed with an oath, “Sir, you shall stay
and take t’ other bottle,” and the Merry Monarch, true to his name,
with a smile hummed the line of the old song:
“He that is drunk is as great as a king,”
and turned back to finish the bottle. We like this story. A piece of
plate with Sir Robert Vyner’s initials of the year 1675 would possess
added value for this touch of nature which makes the whole world kin.
On the look-out for links connecting the silversmith with things human
we find an interesting shop card of Ellis Gamble, to whom by his own
desire young Hogarth was apprenticed and learned to engrave on silver
plate. It may be imagined that he was not an “Idle Apprentice,” and his
early work with the graver on the flagons and tankards in Mr. Gamble’s
shop should stimulate research. It was here that he drew heraldic
beasts. His apprenticeship terminated when he was twenty years of age.
There is preserved in _Hogarth Illustrated_ (by Ireland) the engraving
of the Kendal Arms during his apprenticeship, showing fine design.
We give the inscription on Ellis Gamble’s shop card, which is in
a frame, termed by bookplate collectors “Chippendale.” There is a
full-length figure of a winged angel standing on a scroll, and the
lettering is somewhat crowded below in English and in French:--
“Ellis Gamble, Goldsmith at the Golden Angel in Cranbourn Street,
Leicester Fields, Makes Buys and Sells all sorts of Plate, Rings and
Jewells, etc.”
An interesting sidelight on makers’ names is afforded by the various
copper tokens which they struck, bearing their names and addresses. We
append a short list of goldsmiths’ tokens of the seventeenth century.
They come from various parts of the country and from Ireland, and
readers having seventeenth century silver bearing these initials may
be able to identify the maker.
LONDON.
The Hermitage (Wapping)
John Mayhew. Gouldsmith His Halfepeny
Neare the Armitage Bridg. I.M 1666
West Smithfeild
Euodias Inman. his halfe Peny
In Smithfeild Rounds. Gouldsmith.
Beech Lane (Barbican) (on a farthing).
Elizabeth Wood (with the Goldsmiths’ arms)
In Beach Lane. 1656. E. W.
Seacole Lane (Snow Hill) (on a farthing).
Samuell Chapell in Seacole Lane, 1671.
The Goldsmiths’ arms on reverse.
EXETER (on a farthing).
Samuell Calle (with design of a man smoking)
Gouldsmith in Exon (with design of covered cup).
BATH (on a farthing).
Geo. Reve. Goldsmith (with Goldsmiths’ arms)
In Bath. 1658. G. M. R.
OXFORD (on a farthing).
Will Robinson 1668 (with Goldsmiths’ arms)
Gouldsmith in Oxon W. M. R.
DOVER (on a farthing).
Willian Keylocke (with the Goldsmiths’ arms)
In Dover. 1667. W M K
IRELAND.
Dublin (on a penny).
Io. Partington. Gouldsme. (Arms: on a bend cotise, an eagle).
Kinges head. Skinner Row, Dublin, 1d.
KILKENNY (on a penny).
William Keovgh 1d.
Kilkeny. Goldsmith (with design of a mermaid).
Among the eighteenth century American silversmiths there are some that
stand out prominently, and the exhibition of old American plate held
at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1906 brought them to notice.
There is the work of John Dixwell from 1680 to 1735 who was the son
of Colonel John Dixwell, one of the regicides who fled to America in
the early years of the Restoration. But the historic punch bowl made
by Paul Revere was the _pièce de résistance_, and was shown together
with some forty other of his creations. It was made for the fifteen
“Sons of Liberty.” The inscription runs: “To the memory of the glorious
Ninety-Two members of the Honourable House of Representatives of the
Massachusetts Bay, who, undaunted by the insolent menaces of villains
in power, from a strict regard to conscience and the Liberties of their
constituents, on the 30th June, 1768, Voted Not To Rescind.”
But Paul Revere, silversmith, has another claim to renown as a patriot.
Longfellow, in his _Tales of a Wayside Inn_, has a poem telling of
“Paul Revere’s Ride,” seven years after he fashioned this punch bowl.
The story runs that he waited, booted and spurred, on the Charlestown
shore for secret news to carry through all the countryside.
... If the British march
By land or sea from the town to night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--
One, if by land, and two, if by sea.
We know the story of the opening shots at Lexington, the obstinate
foolishness of the North Ministry and the deaf ear George III turned
to the wisdom of Chatham. Longfellow pays posterity’s tribute to the
silversmith:--
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo for evermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.
V. THE HIGHER STANDARD MARK
The higher standard mark has a significance peculiarly its own. By 8
and 9 William III, _cap._ 8, it was enacted that any person bringing
silver plate from January 1696 to November 1697[2] to any of the Royal
Mints, which silver plate be marked as sterling silver with the mark
usually employed at the Hall of the Goldsmiths’ Company of London
should receive “without tarrying till it be melted and assayed,” five
shillings and four pence per ounce.
Section 9 of this chapter of the Act contains in official terms an
allusion to the grave scandals that had shaken the commercial stability
of the country for many years. “And whereas it might reasonably be
suspected that part of the silver coins of the realm had been, by
persons regarding their own private gain more than the public good,
molten and converted into vessels of silver or other manufactured
plate, which crime has been the more easily perpetrated by them,
inasmuch as the goldsmiths or other workers of plate by the former laws
and statutes of the realm were not obliged to make their plate of finer
silver than the sterling or standard ordained for the monies of the
realm,” it was enacted that from and after 25th March 1697 no silver
plate should be made that was not of higher standard than the coin of
the realm. It was laid down that the legal marks on all silver were to
be the maker’s mark, expressed by the two first letters of his surname,
and that the marks of the assay offices should be for this new plate
the lion’s head erased and “the figure of a woman commonly called
Britannia” in lieu of the former marks of the leopard’s head and the
lion _passant_. In addition to this the date mark was to be stamped to
show in what year the plate was made. In this Act of 1696 it will be
observed that the mention of the leopard’s head and the lion _passant_
include London marks only. As the manufacture of silver plate of the
old standard was illegal after the passing of this Act and the use of
the old marks was equally illegal, it would appear that the provincial
assay offices were precluded from stamping silver.
That this appears to be the case is suggested by the reappointment of
the provincial offices in 1700. York, Exeter, Bristol, Chester, and
Norwich, at which cities mints had been opened for the coinage of the
new silver, were reappointed by 12 William, _cap._ 4, to assay and mark
silver plate as heretofore. The new standard was to be observed. The
marks to be employed were the maker’s mark, the lion’s head erased, the
figure of Britannia, the city mark, and the date letter, “a variable
Roman letter,” which latter provision was not then, and has not since,
been observed, as other types have been used.
From 25th March, 1697, till 1700 no plate was therefore assayed at any
of the provincial centres.
In 1702 the town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne was appointed as an assay town
with similar privileges and restrictions as in the above-mentioned
cities.
The old standard of silver was .925, that is in every thousand parts
only 75 were to be of alloy. The new standard was .959, that is only
41 parts of alloy could be legally used. This raised the standard of
silver plate above that of the coin of the realm.
The new standard was the only legal standard for silver plate from
March 1697 till 1720, when the old standard was revived and the higher
standard marks of the Britannia and the lion’s head erased were no
longer compulsory. Silver plate then dropped to the same fineness as
the coin of the realm. But if silversmiths desired to make silver of
this higher standard they could do so, and such silver plate would
receive the stamps at the assay offices, of the Britannia and the
lion’s head erased.
It is thus shown that the dates when silver plate must compulsorily
bear the Higher Standard marks are between the years 1697 and 1720. The
following note will be useful to collectors.
A piece of silver marked with the figure of Britannia and the lion’s
head erased may be an example falling under any of the following
heads:--
1. Assayed in London between 1697 and 1700, when London was the only
office assaying silver plate. (It was illegal in England to make silver
plate of a lower standard between 1697 and 1720.)
2. Assayed in London between 1701 and 1720.
3. Assayed at Chester, Exeter, York, and Norwich, between 1701 and 1720.
4. Assayed at Newcastle from 1702 to 1720.
5. Assayed at any of the assay offices (except Dublin; no Higher
Standard silver being made in Ireland) after 1720 to the present day.
Although such silver plate of the Higher Standard has not since been
compulsory by law since 1720.
The Britannia period is an intricate period in the study of silver
plate, but the history underlying the Acts which governed the
hall-marking at this period should appeal to the collector who wishes
to endow his plate with historic interest. Without digressing too
widely into economic questions which threatened to paralyse commerce
and to destroy the allegiance to William III, it is of essential
interest to the collector of old silver plate to realize the conditions
which rendered the Higher Standard Mark of the Britannia and the lion’s
head erased necessary to prevent financial disasters of considerable
magnitude. The plate closet provides the historian with many of his
facts. It was in the days of Charles I that the loyalists melted down
their plate to be converted into coin of the realm. It was in William’s
day that clippers of coins provided silver for the silversmith to
fashion into his pleasing shapes. At what cost will be shown.
Till the reign of Charles II our coin had been struck by a process as
old as the thirteenth century. The metal was shaped with shears and
stamped by the hammer. The inexactitude of such coinage became the
opportunity for the clipper of coins. A mill was set up at the Tower of
London which was worked by horses and superseded the human hand. The
coins were exactly circular, their edges were inscribed with a legend,
and clipping was thereby made apparently impossible. But the hammered
coins and the milled coins were current together. The result was, as
it always is, that the light and poorer coin drove the better one out
of the current circulation. The milled crown new from the mint became
more valuable for shipment abroad or for use in the crucible.
Coiners grew and multiplied because the damaged and defaced coins could
be more easily imitated. Hundreds of wretched persons were dragged
up Holborn Hill, and in spite of flogging, branding, and hanging,
the trade of the coin clipper was easier than highway robbery, and
as fortunes were to be made those who followed that avocation took
the risks, as did smugglers. It was a dangerous occupation. Seven men
were hanged one morning and a woman branded, but this did not deter
the hundreds who were undetected. One clipper who was caught offered
£6,000 for a pardon, which was rejected, but the news gave a stimulus
to the industry. The Government of the day became alarmed at the
state of things, which grew from bad to worse. A sum of £57,200 of
hammered money paid into the Exchequer was tested by the officials.
It should have weighed above 220,000 ounces; it weighed under 114,000
ounces. (_Lowndes’ Essay for the Amendment of the Silver Coins_,
1695.) A Quaker who came from the North journeyed southwards, and his
diary shows that as he travelled towards London the innkeepers were
astonished at the full and heavy weight of the half-crowns he offered.
They asked where such money could be found. The guinea which he
purchased at Lancaster for twenty-two shillings bore a different value
at every stage. In London it was worth thirty shillings, and would
have been worth more had not the Government fixed this as the highest
at which gold should be received in payment of taxes. The _Memoirs_
of this Quaker were published in the _Manchester Guardian_ some thirty
years ago.
It may readily be imagined that such a state of things began to cripple
trade. Merchants stipulated as to the quality of the coin in which they
were to be paid. “The labourer found that the bit of metal which, when
he received it, was called a shilling, would hardly, when he wanted to
purchase a pot of beer or a loaf of rye bread, go as far as sixpence.”
Tonson the bookseller sends Dryden forty brass shillings. Another time
he paid the poet in silver pieces that were so bad that they could not
be passed.
The Government still believed in penalties, and hoped that drastic
punishment would stop the clipping of the hammered coin and the melting
and export of the new milled coin. A clipper who informed against two
other clippers was pardoned. Any one informing against a clipper had a
reward of forty pounds. Whoever was found in the possession of silver
clippings, filings, or parings should be burned in the cheek with a
red-hot iron. Officers were empowered to search for bullion, and the
onus of proof as to its origin was thrown on the possessors, or failing
this they were fined heavily. But all in vain were these drastic
measures; clipping still continued in defiance of all penal laws.
Colley Cibber in his _Love’s Last Shift, or the Fool in Fashion_, has a
hit at the debased state of the coinage. A gay cynic says, “Virtue is
as much debased as our money: and, in faith, _Dei Gratia_ is as hard to
be found in a girl of sixteen as round the brim of an old shilling.”
This is not the place to enumerate the many foolish schemes that were
propounded, some too costly, some unjust, some hazardous.
Locke and Newton brought their minds to bear on the subtleties of the
question, and adopted the ideas of Dudley North, who died in 1693. His
tract on the restoration of the currency is practically the same as
that subsequently adopted.
William Lowndes, Secretary of the Treasury, Member of Parliament for
the borough of Seaford, “a most respectable and industrious public
servant,” as Lord Macaulay terms him, was incapable of rising above the
details of his office in order to cope with economic principles. “He
was not in the least aware that a piece of metal with the King’s head
on it was a commodity of which the price was governed by the same laws
which govern the price of metal fashioned into a spoon or a buckle,
and that it was no more in the power of Parliament to make the kingdom
richer by calling a crown a pound than to make the kingdom larger by
calling a furlong a mile. He seriously believed, incredible as it may
seem, that if the ounce of silver were divided into seven shillings
instead of five, foreign nations would sell us their wines and their
silks for a smaller number of ounces.”
Happily Lowndes was completely refuted by Locke in his _Further
Considerations Concerning the Raising the Value of Money_, 1695.
Locke recommended what Dudley North had advised, namely, that the King
should issue a proclamation declaring hammered money should pass only
by weight. What searching, branding, fining, burning, and hanging had
failed to do would have been accomplished at once. The clipping of the
hammered coin and the melting of the new milled coin to be made into
silver plate would have ceased. But it had one objection. The loss
would fall on the individual. Those in whose hands the clipped coin
happened to be at a particular moment would bear the loss. But the loss
in equity should be borne by the State which had allowed such evils to
go unchecked.
It was suggested to remedy this that all clipped coin after a certain
date would be exchanged for good coin at the mint. But it was soon
realized that this would make clipping more profitable than ever.
A real remedy was devised but unhappily it fell through. A proclamation
was to be prepared with great secrecy, and published simultaneously
in all parts of the kingdom. This was to declare hammered coin
should thenceforth only pass by weight. Every possessor of such coin
could within three days deliver it in a sealed packet to the local
authorities to be weighed and would receive a promissory note to
receive from the Treasury the difference between the actual quantity of
silver the pieces contained and the quantity they should have contained.
Anxious days followed in Parliament, but it was determined the public
should bear the loss on the clipped coins. It was laid down that a time
should be fixed when no clipped money should pass, except in payments
to the Government, and that a later time should be fixed after which no
clipped money should pass at all. The 4th of May, 1696, was named as
the date on which the Government would cease to receive clipped money
in payment of taxes.
Ten furnaces were erected in a garden behind the Treasury, which was
then a part of Whitehall, and which lay between the Banqueting House
and the river. Every day huge heaps of clipped and unrecognizable coins
were here turned into ingots of silver and were sent off to the Mint at
the Tower (_L’Hermitage_, January 14-24, 1696).
The scene may readily be imagined. The second of May 1696 had been
fixed by Parliament as the last day in which the crowns, half-crowns,
and shillings were to be received in payment of taxes for face value.
The guards had to be called in to keep order. The Exchequer was
besieged by a vast multitude from dawn to midnight. The Act provided
that the money was to be brought in by before the 4th of May. The 3rd
was a Sunday, therefore Saturday, the 2nd of May, was actually the last
day.
During the next few months, as the issues of the new coinage were
unduly slow, the tension was very great. The upper classes lived on
credit. “Money exceeding scarce, so that none was paid or received: but
all was on trust” (_Evelyn’s Diary_, May 13th). “Want of current money
for smallest concerns even for daily provisions in the markets.” (June
11th, _Evelyn’s Diary_.)
By about August 1696, signs of prosperity began to be observed after a
very trying time owing to the scarcity of silver.
Undoubtedly it was a very anxious period for the Government.
Malcontents stirred up the populace and tumults occurred in various
parts of the country. Jacobite tracts were published advocating violent
measures. William had strained his private credit in Holland to procure
bread for the Army. But the crisis was weathered and the coinage
question was settled.
It hardly needs an apology from the author to bring these facts tersely
together before the reader who is interested in old English silver. The
figure of Britannia and the lion’s head erased belong to this troublous
period. They come as a corollary to the coinage question, and they
should provide the collector with food for thought whenever he sees
them stamped upon silver in his possession. The standard of silver
plate was raised as a further safeguard, in order that the clippers
should have no incentive to melt down the new coinage.
From 1697 to 1720 the silver plate, being compulsorily by law of a
higher standard than the coin of the realm, stood as a safeguard
against the return to clipping.
The Britannia standard, therefore, to collectors should be something
more than rare. It should induce reflective thought as to the
successive stages the troublous disputations, the suggested remedies,
and the awful punishments which came as a prelude to the establishment
of this Higher Standard.
At a much later period the figure of Britannia was stamped upon silver
plate, but the practice was not very extensive, and the Britannia stamp
is used without the accompanying lion’s head erased. The date when
this mark appears is at a period subsequent to 1784 and relates to the
drawback or exemption from duty on silver plate exported. (See the
“Duty Mark,” p. 61.)
VI. THE DUTY MARK
In regard to duty on silver plate, it was first imposed in England and
in Scotland in 1719, when the old silver standard was revived. The duty
was fixed at 6d. per ounce. Later by 3 Geo. II, in 1730, the duty was
imposed on silver plate assayed in Ireland, and at this date the figure
of Hibernia was used to denote that duty had been paid to the king. In
1784, by 24 Geo. III, _cap._ 53, a duty of 6d. per ounce was levied.
This applied to England and Scotland, and it was enacted that, in
addition to the other marks formerly employed by the makers and assay
offices, the new mark of the king’s head should be stamped on every
piece of silver plate on which duty has been paid. By another section
of this Act it was a felony punishable by death to use any counterfeit
stamp contrary to law. By a later Act, 55 Geo. III, in 1815, the
counterfeiting the king’s head duty mark was punishable by death; and
this was only a hundred years ago. The duty on silver plate was now 1s.
6d. per ounce.
From 1784, therefore, on English and Scottish silver the duty mark of
the head of the reigning sovereign appears on all silver plate, stamped
in an oval escutcheon.
In regard to the duty mark on Irish plate, it was not until 1807 by 47
Geo. III that the stamp of the king’s head, or that of the reigning
sovereign was added to the other marks to denote that duty had been
paid to the king. The old mark of Hibernia was allowed to remain;
originally it was a duty mark, but it may be now regarded as the
hall-mark of Dublin.
The various sovereigns’ heads were used down to 1890, when the duty was
discontinued and the mark abolished.
In connexion with these duty marks the Act of 1784 has a section which
has an interesting provision, and those collectors who may happen to
find a figure of Britannia on a piece of silver without its companion
mark of the lion’s head erased may be puzzled as to the reason of the
omission. First it does not denote that the silver plate was of the
higher standard. It was a mark stamped on silver which was exported.
By the above Act duty was not charged on silver exported, and in order
to prevent any of this plate being taken abroad for a short time only,
and then landed in this country to be sold here without the duty having
been paid, it was stamped with the figure of Britannia.
The following are the Duty Marks used:--
Ireland 1730 to 1807 Figure of Hibernia.
England and Scotland 1784 to 1820 Head of George III.
Ireland 1807 to 1820 do. do.
England, Scotland, and Ireland 1821 to 1830 Head of George IV.
do. do. 1831 to 1836 Head of William IV.
do. do. 1837 to 1890 Head of Victoria. Duty
abolished 1890.
The illustrations of these duty marks are shown in the Table (p. 357).
VII. THE FOREIGN MARK
The Foreign Mark is a protective measure. A great amount of foreign
wrought plate had found its way into this country and was being sold
by dealers without sending it to the assay office. It was of a lower
standard than would have been passed by the assay offices, that is to
say it was not sterling silver as understood in this country, viz. 925
parts silver in every thousand parts of metal--that is, admitting only
75 parts of alloy in every thousand. In 1842 an Act was passed, 5 and 6
Vic., which enacted that no silver plate which had not been wrought in
England, Scotland, or Ireland was to be sold in these countries unless
it had first been assayed in the same manner as silver wrought in Great
Britain and Ireland. But no provision was made that such foreign silver
should bear an additional stamp, nor does it seem that the Act was very
much put into operation. The provisions seem to have been evaded till
1867, when by 30 and 31 Vic. all imported plate had to be marked with
letter F in an oval escutcheon, denoting it was of foreign manufacture,
although it had passed the tests and otherwise had the stamps of
British or Irish assay offices upon it.
This is not very satisfactory, although the practice has now been
altered. A purchaser gets a piece of silver plate with the lion and the
leopard’s head on it, and this to the tyro denotes quality, and allays
any fears he may have as to its origin. He may innocently imagine he is
supporting home industries, not knowing what the meaning of the letter
F may be at the end of the row of symbols.
This foreign mark, illustrated in Table, p. 357, was used from 1876 to
1904.
It seems unfair to British manufacturers that foreign silver is assayed
here for competitive sale with home manufactured plate; it bears the
time-honoured symbols that have been used in this country for four
hundred years. There is also the possibility that some fraudulent
dealer may remove the F, and straightway the piece becomes British. It
was not in the public interest that such a loose state of things should
continue.
By the Hall Marking of Foreign Plate Act (4 Edw. VII. c. 6), Foreign
silver plate was marked by the Assay Offices with the following marks
_in addition to_ the Standard Mark and the Date Letters. In 1906,
by Order in Council, certain alterations were made in the London,
Sheffield, Glasgow and Dublin marks on Foreign plate assayed.
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the
Hall-marking of Gold and Silver Plate, 1879.
[2] A period of eleven months. The year 1696 ended on 24th March, and
the year 1697 commenced on 25th March.
II
ECCLESIASTICAL
PLATE
[Illustration: ELIZABETHAN CHALICE AND COVER.
Silver-gilt. Exeter pattern. Inscription, “St. Petrox Exon.”
Exeter hall-mark 1572.
(_In possession of the Parish of St. Petrock, Exeter._)]
[Illustration: ELIZABETHAN CHALICE AND COVER.
Silver-gilt. Inscription, “The Paryshe of Trynitye in the yeare of our
Lorde 1575.” Exeter hall-mark, 1575.
(Marks illustrated p. 391.)
(_In possession of the Parish of Trinity, Exeter._)]