CHAPTER XI
SCOTTISH SILVER
The ancient history of the silversmiths’ craft in Scotland—Peculiarities in marking—The standard mark of the Thistle introduced in 1759 (Edinburgh), the Lion rampant (Glasgow) in 1819.
The study of Scottish silver is a special one. Its manufacture and the statutes governing the goldsmiths and silversmiths extend back to the fifteenth century. The chief centres of marking and assaying were primarily Edinburgh and latterly Glasgow in addition. But it is remarkable how many towns and burghs assayed silver. In comparison with England the manufacture of silver plate seems to have covered a wider area in Scotland. Examples are extant showing that Dundee assayed silver as early as the seventeenth century, with the town mark of the two-handled pot with lilies, and the same mark was used in the late nineteenth century. Perth had its lamb and the flag, emblem of St. John. Aberdeen had the letters ABD; Elgin had ELN; Banff had BA; and Inverness had INS, or its mark of a camel. This is enough, meagre though it be, to indicate that the identification of Scottish silver requires no little close study into the records covering an intricate field, and many marks unattributed to any special place are believed to be Scottish in origin.
Of the Scottish silver-plate, illustrated in this chapter, it may be said that, whenever possible, details are given of the peculiarities of marking to enable the student to familiarize himself with the differences in comparison with English silver. The assay master’s initials, the maker’s initials, and the date letter are an array of letters possibly puzzling to the beginner.
The quaich (illustrated [p. 313]) was made at Edinburgh in 1705. The maker was Robert Inglis, and the assay master, James Penman. The marks are illustrated [p. 405]. These old vessels were used for drinking spirits, and the two handles denote that, like the English loving-cup, they were passed around. They are not used over this side of the border. They are sometimes made of hard dark wood, and possibly their origin may be traced to Scandinavian forms. The Dutch have similar vessels. In the Willet-Holthuysen Museum at Amsterdam there is a silver brandy- or loving-cup with ears in form like the Scottish quaich or quaigh. This is of the first half of the seventeenth century. It measures 9 centimetres in height by 11 centimetres in width. The side of the cup is divided into six embossed parts, each encircling an engraved medallion of four symbolic figures—Faith, Justice, Science, and Labour. All these are surrounded by medallions in Renaissance style: the well-known conventional dragons, garlands of flowers, and cherubs’ heads. The handles are also ornamented. “It is a truly Dutch sweetly pretty little thing,” says Frans Coenen, the curator, the author of a brochure on the collection, “and seems to have been made on purpose to be held by a strong, powerful fist at the festive board. And festive boards were of frequency in the days of the Great Republic, when the merry cup went round with snapdragon, or even brandy pure and undiluted, as a kind of English loving-cup. And the ladies partook as well as the gentlemen. Neither did they refuse the weed which cheers but not inebriates.” The author laments that this form has disappeared from use in Holland. “In course of time,” he says, “bitters and gin took the place of brandy, and the pretty vessel degenerated into a characterless bottle or jug, which in its turn was replaced by the teapot.”
SUGAR-CASTER. EDINBURGH, 1746.
Marked with Maker’s mark, E O, and Assay Master’s initials H G (Hugh Gordon), castle, and date Letter R.