Chats on Old Silver

by Arthur Hayden

GEORGE II MUG.

With Exeter marks for 1733 illustrated.

GEORGE II TANKARD.

With Exeter marks for 1748 (illustrated [p. 391]).

(By courtesy of Messrs. Ellett Lake & Son, Exeter.)

The other two Exeter examples are illustrated on [page 117], and are of the period of George II. It will be seen that the cover leaves the flat form hitherto fixed during a long period extending back to Charles II, and begins to resume the domed shape of the early Elizabethan types. But there is no knob or button with baluster ornament such as in the earlier forms. The dome top of the later period is exceptionally reticent. In turning back to the William III example illustrated on [page 111], in date 1701, it will be seen that the flat top did, on occasion, have an ornament; in this example the ornament takes an elaborate form, but as a rule the flat-topped tankard without ornament may be said to extend from about 1640 to 1740. In the Exeter tankard, dated 1748, the handle still follows the previous styles, and adds an ornamental form in its terminal which gives a pleasing effect with its terminal in double curves. The adjacent mug is the precursor of the new form of vessel which became individual. The tankard was passed around and followed the custom observed in the loving-cup. But the mug was personal and exhibited a change in the drinking habits of the common folk. It became a common utensil in inns in pewter, and its proportions were governed by statute. The date of this silver mug is 1733, in the reign of George II. The marks, with the Exeter date letter for the year 1733, are shown under the illustration ([page 117]).

The Stuart Beaker

The potter and the glassworker were always dogging the heels of the silversmith. Now and again the silversmith borrowed an idea from the other arts. The Stuart beakers are a class apart. We illustrate examples from the opening years of the seventeenth century—James I, 1606, to the days of Charles II. The James I beaker, in date 1606, shows the engraved floral design of well-balanced proportions. It is a tall, cylindrical vessel, and the decoration is in keeping with the surface to be ornamented. The engraving slightly suggests in its character, though not in its technique, the strapwork decoration of the same period. The marks of this piece are given on [page 361].

These are interesting illustrations of evolution. The second example of the time of Charles I shows a slackness in design which compares unfavourably with the specimen of the previous reign. This is a piece just prior to the outburst of the Civil War. Even here, slight as is the engraving, we catch the suggestion of the later Stuart lozenge decoration employed in other arts, as for instance in furniture, notably in Stuart chair backs of this period. The love for the parallelogram was not confined to the silver worker.