[Plate IVa.]—Rose-water dish; diameter, 17¼ ins.; weight, 63 oz.; no hall mark; maker’s mark, monogram C. R. in a shield; date, circa 1613. The dish is quite plain, with an engraved line on the edge. The arms per pale of Winchester College and the donor are engraved on the centre boss, round which runs the inscription, ‘Ex dono Georgii Rives Sacræ Theologiæ Doct. huius Collegii socii deinde Novi Coll. custodis in usum quotidianum Vicecustodis istius Coll. prope Winton Anno Domini 1613.’ The companion ewer of same date, with same maker’s mark; height, 7⅛ ins.; diameter, 4½ ins.; weight, 23 oz. 10 dwt. This is also perfectly plain, with wide bow handle and long curved spout; the foot is of trumpet shape spreading to a plain stepped base. Both dish and ewer are good examples of the plain plate that was slowly coming into fashion in this country during the early part of the seventeenth century.
[Plate IVb.]—Small standing cup and cover, gilt; height, 14. ins.; hall-mark, London 1632; maker’s mark, P. C. over a rose in a shield. The bowl of the cup is matted with a broad plain border at the lip, round which runs the inscription, ‘Ex dono Hugonis Barker legū Doctoris olim huius Collegii Scholaris ac Consanguinei fundatoris eiusdem Collegii ac eo nomine in numerū Scholariū eiusdem admissi.’ Below this in a circle are engraved the arms of the donor. The stem is of baluster shape usual to the cups of this period, and plain save for a matting on the knop, and where it joins the foot there is a repoussé ornament of small leaves; the base is composed of simple mouldings. The cover is of cupola shape with a wide brim; the surface is decorated with a matted ground, and the whole is surmounted by a plain finial of vase-shaped form. This plain plate with a granulated or matted surface was much made in the north of Germany, Denmark, and Sweden, and was probably introduced into this country through the influence of Anne of Denmark, the queen of James I.
[Plate Va.]—Tankard and cover; height, 7 ins.; weight, 34 oz. 11 dwt.; marks, London 1614; maker’s mark, O. S., with pellets in a shield. This early Jacobean tankard is plain throughout and of globular or tankard form. Round the neck runs a band on which is engraved ‘Facile contemnit omnia qui semper cogitat se esse moriturum.’ As an additional emphasis of this sad but true remark, the billet of the cover is formed of a human skull holding a scroll between its teeth, and on the body of the tankard is engraved the arms of the donor with the inscription, ‘Ex dono Johanis Bolney quondā de sanguine fundatoris Jstius Collegii St. Marie Winton Aō dm̄ni 1614.’ The handle is depressed in the bow and finishes in a square whistle end. Tankards or flagons of this shape are extremely rare, and owe the origin of their form to the stoneware jug of Tudor days.
[Plate Vb.]—Standing salt; height, 6½ ins.; diameter, 9 ins. at top, q¼ ins. at base; weight, 47 oz. 5 dwt.; marks, London 1664; maker’s mark undecipherable. The salt is plain, cylindrical, and of X form; the three short curved arms that spring from the slightly convex top were intended to hold a napkin to protect the salt, or, as is to be seen in pictures of the time, for the support of a small dish for olives or caviare. On the fine trumpet sweep of the base are engraved the arms of Wykeham and of the donor within feather mantling, and the inscription, ‘Legatum Mr̄i Michaelis Bold M. Art Collegij Btae Mariae Winton.’ The edge is finished in a simple half-round and step moulding.
[Plate Vc.]—Tankard with lid, parcel gilt; height, 6 ins.; weight, 25 oz. 9 dwt.; marks, London 1649. The tankard is cylindrical and straight-sided, hooped and staved in imitation of a barrel; the lid is quite flat, and engraved with the arms of the see within a garter; the billet is of half skull type, and the curious short handle is of rectangular and irregular form. The barrel decoration at this date (the first year of the Commonwealth) is unusual to find, although the fashion was much adopted towards the end of the same century. The parcel gilding is original.
[Plate VIa.]—Steeple cup and cover, gilt; total height, 19 ins.; height of cup, 12 ins.; weight, 38 oz. 5 dwt.; marks, London 1615; maker’s mark, T. F. in monogram in a shield. The cover is surmounted by a perforated spire of graceful proportions, supported on three brackets of female form. The cover and cup are decorated with scrolled acanthus and fruit in low relief and fine line engraving; the stem is of the composite character usual to these cups, and bears the last traces of Renaissance influence. The cup, although in excellent preservation, has been regilt. There are many steeple cups of this type in existence, but few are so happy in their proportions as this specimen.
[Plate VIb.]—Tall standing cup or hanap with cover. Total height, 24 ins.; cup without cover, 17¼ ins.; diameter, 8⅛ ins.; weight, 124 oz. 17 dwt.; marks, London 1680; maker’s mark, T. C. with a fish and a fleur de luce in a shield. The bowl of this very tall standing cup is plain in shape, ornamented with a surbase of upright acanthus, above which runs an embossed laurelled band; above and below this band are the following inscriptions in Greek and Latin:—
κρᾶσις ἀγαθοῦ δαίμονος
Sivè
Poculum Charitatis
In Usum
Collegij Btae Mariae Winton
propè Winton
The stem is of ordinary baluster shape, engraved and chased with laurelling and acanthus. The base and cover resemble each other in their decoration, and the latter ends in a mushroom-shaped finial, from which spring two arms supporting a heart. This form of standing cup was universal from 1640 to 1690, and, though deficient in artistic construction, possesses interest as being the last recognized design of loving cup mounted on to a tall stem.
[Plate VII.]—Ecclesiastical plate belonging to the college chapel. Two chalices with covers, gilt; marks, London 1611; maker’s mark, R. P. in a shield over a fleur de luce. These are perfectly plain and of the type that was usual during the first years of the seventeenth century. The two tall flagons are of tankard shape, gilt; marks, London 1627; maker’s mark, R. S. over a heart. These tankards are of a shape that was common to both ecclesiastical and secular use, the entasis of the drum, on which are engraved the arms of the donor per pale with those of the college, gives great elegance to its tall and plain columnar form, and the mouldings to the petticoat base are unusually sharp and well proportioned. The large alms dish is gilt; width, 17¼ ins.; marks, London 1681; maker’s mark illegible. The dish is plain, but edged with a reeded moulding; on the border is engraved an inscription set in feather mantling between the arms of Wykeham and those of the donor. There are many other pieces of ecclesiastical and secular plate belonging to the college for which there is not space here. These consist of chalices, patens, salvers, porringers and tankards, which, although of great merit, are not of corresponding interest to the pieces represented in the illustrations.