CHATvS OM OLD PEWTER Tr .J. L.J. MASSE CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FINE ARTS LIBRARY Cornell University Library NK8406.M41 1911 Chats on old pewter 3 1924 014 909 026 CHATS ON OLD PEWTER BOOKS FOR COLLECTORS With Coloured Frontispieces and many Illustrations. Large Crown Svo, clotli. CHATS ON ENGLISH CHINA. By Arthur Hayden. CHATS ON OLD FURNITUPIE. By Arthur Hayden. CHATS ON OLD PRINTS. By Arthur Hayden. CHATS ON OLD SILVER. By E. L. Lowes. 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 MINIATURES. By J. T- Foster. CHATS ON ENGLISH EARTHENWARE. By Arthur Hayden. (Companion Volume to "Chats on English China. ") CHATS ON AUTOGRAPHS. By A. M. Broadley. CHATS ON OLD PEWTER. By H, J. L. J. Masse, M.A. ... n 1 ::. ^'"■■/i:^^" P3 II j^^wl^^^^^^^^ ^^B^ 1 ■ S^ ' ^^^^SB^ K ^^1 ^«I^J ■BHHBE^ 1- » (^^2 ^ r^' ^.■. ■ ... ■^^^^^gjH i»»^ fjKKMAX M.ACdX INI.. Mil Willi IIK'.VSS. (/•;,)«/ ///.■ '.««^;;;^ SMALL FIFTKI'ATII-CI' \ rrk"i' I'l-WTII; IMVri' Forxi) l\ A MWKK 1\ WM LLKociK, 1- A'. (/■•/WOT //;,• LolU\lion ,.'■.-/. r. BHIm'ii, £.,/.) KOJLW PKWTLk, CHIEFLY FKiLU TH F I;ATF>L-IX Ci iLLFLLF >X. [From the co/u\-/ioii ,;/" 5. G. Faitoii, Esq.] 37 ADVICE TO COLLECTORS 39 for Museums than for individuals. Those interested in them will find several excellent illustrations in Mr. Wood's book, and for the traveller in Scotland the collection in the Smith Institute, Stirling, will certainly repay careful inspection. Plates and dishes in themselves, unless of early makers, with clearly marked touches, are not of surpassing interest. They may be used as back- grounds, or in the equipment of a dresser, or in the reconstituting of a " garnish," but plates collected with no definite aim or object would soon pall on the most ardent collector. There is a fine dresser in the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, with an array of large dishes upon it, which will give a good idea of the effect to be obtained from such an arrangement. To collect pewter which has been marked by a recognised maker would be interesting, but there is this difficulty : much excellent pewter was unmarked by the maker or has a mark that is not now legible ; and much, again, was made by pewterers whose marks are not on the touch-plates now in existence. A collection of such marked plates, dishes, and vessels would be of more value to the student of touches than to an ordinary collector. Some collectors have had an eye solely to the shapes of pewter ware, and ignoring the place of origin, and in many cases the quality, have chosen pieces for the beauty of their lines, and for nothing else. In collecting for profit and in buying by the lot, there is the necessity thrust upon the purchaser to buy what is in some cases absolutely worthless. It cannot be helped, and the buyer, just as any other dealer, must make the best of his bargain, and hope, 3 40 CHATS ON OLD PEWTBft by his profit on the rest, to recoup himself for the incidental loss on the rubbish. One has heard of enthusiasts who began to collect pewter merely because a friend had done the same. This does not betray much originality, but the feeling of very keen rivalry that might arise might produce one or perhaps two very good collections. If, however, neither of the two knew anything about pewter, the earlier moves in the game — for it is more like that than serious collecting — would be apt to verge on the ridiculous. Cases have been known in which the desire to have a dinner-service in pewter of a certain number of pieces has been the prime cause of the collection being made, and the step once taken, the collector has added wisely later on, and then, weeding out the less desirable pieces, has passed them on to delight others less fortunate than himself It was once suggested by a connoisseur to a friend that he should make a collection of faked pieces and offer them to a certain well-known Museum as a warning to the authorities of the institution in question and as a guide to future collectors. There is really something in the idea, and a good collection of bona-fide fakes would be extremely interesting for many reasons. The thing, too, has been done in another department of archaeology, and in one of our provincial Museums there is a wonderful array of faked flint weapons and tools, which have deceived even the elect who know everything. A beginner in collecting pewter will be met with the difficulty of determining the difference between pewter and Britannia metal. The best thing for him to do will be to buy a piece of Britannia metal as such, and try various experiments with it, such as filing, A itEEi;-jri.. [From ilu- colic, lion of II'. C/iin./ier. Esq.' 41 ADVICE TO COLLECTORS 43 fusing with a blow-pipe, soldering, bending, cleaning, scraping, scratching, cutting, and testing with a knife. Let him take a strip of lead, one of tin, one of good pewter, and another of Britannia metal, and draw the sharp cutting edge of the knife (held about the angle of 50 degrees) slowly towards him first on the lead, then on the tin, then on the pewter. The knife will cut the lead quite easily and stick to some e.xtent in the soft metal. On the tin the cut will be more shallow, and the difference on the metal will be felt and heard too, if the operator listens carefull)-. On the piece of pewter the cut will be different again, but the noise, called the " cri de retain " hy the French, will be distinctly heard. On Britannia metal the cut will feel quite different while it is being made, and the resulting en will also be felt to differ. The sound will be harsher than the brilliant "cri" gi\en forth by tin or by good pewter. The test in the old time for pewter was mainly that of the quality of the alloy, for there was no opposition alloy, such as Britannia metal. i\ll through Welch's " History of the Pewterers' Com- pany " mention is made of the seizing of pewter on the ground that it was " so man}' grains or penny- weights less than 'fine.'" In our own time we can fall back on the anal)tical chemist, who for a fee will tell us to a certaint)- the composition of the alloy submitted to him. We may feel inclined, if we have the requisite scientific knowledge and the necessary apparatus, to do it our- selves, but the accumulated experience of the expert is a thing well worth the fee in any important case. French pewterers use the specific gravitj- test de- scribed at length in the " Manuel Roret," page 30, in the edition of 1909. 44 CHATS ON OLD PEWTER Mr. Englefield informs me that the test used by him to-day is the comparison by weight of a disk of the metal to be assayed with a disk of pure tin cast in the same mould. This method is the same as that described by Bapst. A collection once formed, it becomes necessary to display it, so as to make the most of it, both from the collector's point of view and also from that of the student. It may be shown on a dresser, but the average dresser is overloaded with countless little trifling objects, which literally crowd out the others and mar the effect. The less the dresser has upon it, over and above its due complement, the better will it look. Failing a dresser, a recess with strong shelves — for pewter in the aggregate is somewhat heavy — • may be utilised. If it be in a dark corner, the shelves may be painted white and the recess itself papered with white lining paper. If, again, the recess is light enough, the lining of the walls may be of brown paper of a suitable tone, or it may be green or red. The latter harmonises well with the white paint of the woodwork and the soft colour of the pewter. One collector known to the writer has his dining-room enamelled entirely in white, and the effect is charming. The pewter looks dazzling when it has been recently cleaned, and still better, if anything, just before the cleaning time, which is as regular as a Church feast, comes round. Small objects look best under glass, and the same applies to spoons, the latter in particular being too delicate to stand handling, and now too valuable to be allowed to lie about in an unprotected condition. If both foreign and English pewter be collected, DISH WITH ARMS (H- CHARLES I. HX CKXTkAL Ui [Fiv/// llw col.'Citioii or A. S/o-u'c, Es^j.] 45 ADVICE TO COLLECTORS 47 each kind in common justice should be kept so separate and distinct that no comparison may suggest itself. It is only fair to the foreign, and it is the due of the British, ware. At the exhibition of pewter in 1904, a collector, in his ignorance, bewailed that there was no art shown in the English pewter, because there was so little ornament. This same person waxed wildly eloquent over the foreign pewter (some of it at least of doubtful authenticity) which was grouped in a special corner. Collectors such as these often develop into critics, and then woe to the uninitiate who blindly follow those who cannot, or who will not, see. In the Germanische Museum, at Nurnberg, there is a reconstitution of an early seventeenth century kitchen with brass, copper, and pewter utensils brought from various sources. The collection is of great interest, and the idea may be welcome to a collector with the necessary room at his disposal. A little care will be required in selecting objects of a date that will synchronise with the rest, for anachro- nisms would completely spoil the effect. If the kitchen were lofty enough, all the doubtful speci- mens could be "skied." Pewter should not be mixed up indiscriminately with other things. Nothing is in worse taste, apart from the aggravating distraction, than a dresser littered up with china, fire-arms, daggers from Italy and the Levant, bead necklaces from the South Sea Islands, watch-keys, snuffers, and cloisonne enamels from China or Japan. All or any of these things may be collected if the mania is overpowering, but most of them should be kept where the dust cannot settle on them. 48 CHATS ON OLD PEWTER English pewter had of old a good reputation on the Continent for quality, and English tin was also much sought after by foreign pewterers. Harrison, who is so often quoted, wrote that " in some places bej'ond the sea a garnish of good flat English pewter, of an ordinarie making (I sale that, because dishes and platters in my time begin to be made deep like basins, and are indeed more convenient both for sauce, ?.(?., broth, and keeping the meat warme), is esteemed almost so pretious as the like number of vessels that are made of fine silver, and in manner no less desired among the great estates, whose workmen are nothing so skilful in that trade as ours, neither their mettall so good, nor plentie so great, as we have here in England." Mr. Ingleby Wood wrote in his "Scottish Pewter Ware aiid Pewterers " that " There is one vessel peculiar to Scotland alone, the exact counterpart of which is not to be found in any other country, and that is the ' quaigk,' ' quaich^ ' queych', or ' quegk,' as it is variously styled. This article was a vessel of a flat, deep saucer-shape, and furnished with two ' lugs ' or ears by which to hold it ; it was used for the purpose of a drinking-vessel for liquors such as spirits, wine, and ale, but the larger ones were also used for broths, porridge, and the like." The name may be Scottish enough, but the vessel was common in France, even with the distinguishing characteristic of perfectly plain ears. The word is said to be derived from the Gaelic cuack — cf quaff — and the vessel was a shallow drinking-cup made of small staves hooped together with wooden or metal bands. The size varied from the diminutive pocket quaigh 3^ in. in diameter to the largest size with a diameter of 9 or 10 inches. TWO HAX.U'S OK GUILD UPS. 49 ADVICE TO COLLECTORS 51 The shape varied, too, from the bowl pattern with a graceful curve to the stiffer, almost rectilineal type, with straight sides. Most quaighs were left quite simple and unadorned, and as a rule are more solidly made than the porringers with which they are often confused. Primarily for domestic use, they were used also in church for various uses. Mention is made in " Old Scottish Communion Plate " that two pewter "queches" were to be brought to hold "the tokens and the collection at the communion tables." Scottish pewter was, as Mr. Ingleby Wood explains, not made in that country to any great extent before the end of the fifteenth century. Before that time it was looked upon as a luxury, and whatever was used was imported, probably from France, with which country the connection was very intimate, and also from the Low Countries. Mr. Wood ascribes the rarity of pewter in Scotland, as compared with its plentifulness elsewhere, to the poverty of the nation as a whole. Rubbings of pewter marks should always be taken with great care. There seems to be an idea that a rubbing on thick paper done with heelball is all that is necessary for the expert. Of course, it is possible to detect even from such rough specimens a maker's device; but it is not quite fair on the expert. Com- pare such a rubbing with one taken with an FF pencil on fine bank-post, and heelball will not be used henceforth. Cigarette paper is also good, though thin ; so, too, is fine foreign letter-paper. Better than anything is thin tinfoil, such as is used for packets of tobacco or some kinds of tea. That used for chocolate is also good, but is rather thin at times. Rubbings can be obtained by pressing the 52 CHATS ON OLD PEWTER foil into the mark with the tips of the fingers, or with a smooth, rounded, but pointed substance, such as the end of a pen. A collector should keep a copy of all his marks and touches in tinfoil ; they are really facsimiles in a metal somewhat allied to pewter. They are perfectly legible and may be kept in a book, and they have the advantage of not blowing away. If the marks on a piece of pewter submitted to a collector are incomplete or almost indecipherable, at any rate at first sight, patience is necessary, and by means of a rubbing carefully made, more may be gathered than from the pewter itself. It is an excellent plan to keep notes of all marks that pre- sent themselves either by drawings or b)' rubbings. The latter are to be preferred, as the e}'e of the artist may see things that are not there, and in pewter- marks this is undesirable. In rubbings though it may be a case of dum mortalc perit, yet litera scripta manet. Never attempt to force a mark by jumping at conclusions, and always try to confirm any possible solution by reference to the small marks or hall- marks. Some years ago a mark was printed as LEX SERVE. Whatever that may have been thought to mean does not appear; but the LEX was quite clear, and also the . . . E . . . VE. Had the investigator thought of looking more carefully at the hall-marks he would have seen the initials" A. C." Obviously, a search among the pewterers' names should have given a clue, and the only two that satisfy the conditions were ALEX. CLEEVE — father and son. Then, as one joined the Livery in 1689 and the other in 17 16, the piece itself would help to settle the question of the date. C.rll.l) TAXKAkli. {Flow /he ivlhrfioii of Mrs. Doiiki-ii. 53 ADVICE TO COLLECTORS 55 Looking at pewter-marks for long is very tiring work, and a good magnifying-glass is absolutely necessary. For those who can accustom themselves to it, a watchmaker's eye-glass is one of the most convenient, though the magnification often leaves something to be desired. The focusing e)'e-pieces used by some photographers to see if the image is quite sharply defined on the focusing-screen are also useful, but they tire the eyes more than a single glass. In this experto crede, for the writer spent many days over the touch-plates as reproduced in Welch, and many more over the touch-plates at Pewterers' Hall, correcting or confirming as the case might be, or wondering, by the light of the touch- plates themselves, how ever he had made so many and such obvious errors of description and of judgment. There are many interesting problems in deciphering the touches on the touch-plates which are not yet solved. TYPES OF H.\N'DLES. II DEALERS' AND MAKERS' DODGES AND DEVICES FAKES CHAPTER II DEALERS' AND MAKERS' DODGES AND DEVICES — FAKES Dealers, and collectors for profit, often tr)' to induce customers to buy pewter as being silver pewter. What does the adjective mean ? for the two names are contradictory in every way. The one is a precious, and the other a more or less base metal. Silver melts at a temperature of 1830° Fahrenheit (or 950° C), while tin melts at 442° F. (230° C.j, and at a less temperature when alloyed. The two would not combine, and the baser metal would to a large extent volatilise before the silver melted to combine with it. The melting-point would be lower than that of silver, but still too high for the making of a satis- factory tin alloy. It is also stated that through imperfect combination of the two metals the silver would have a tendency to collect in patches, which, as silver tarnishes or oxidises very quickly, would show up as blackish spots on the less black surface, when tarnished, of the pewter. In old times, when tin was alloyed with lead, and the latter was not as pure as it should have been, the other metals present in the lead naturally went with it into the melting-pot. As old lead sometimes contained several pennyweights or even ounces per 59 60 CHATS ON OLD PEWTER ton of impurities, silver being one of them, pewter made with such lead might be termed silver pewter; but it must be taken for granted that the silver was not knowingly added by the old pewter-founder. He took his lead, or his peak as he called it, in all good faith and added it to his tin. If he had known that he was presenting his customers with silver to any extent he would have tried to alter matters, for he would not have approved of a practice by which anybody got something for nothing. If the practice had been known at all it would have cropped up at court meetings of the Pewterers' Company and been officially recorded in the minutes. What, then, is meant by silver pewter? It means that the pewter is of excellent quality, and takes a polish on its hard, even surface, like the polish on silver plate. Of such pewter there is no dearth. There is no point in calling any specimen "silver" pewter because of the fashion or pattern. This craze to make a pewter vessel look like one of silver is no new thing. One Sebaldus Ruprecht as early as the fourteenth century found out a method of doing it, and for a while he reaped the benefit. Later, another German artist went a little farther and proclaimed to the world that he could give his wares the appearance of having been gilded with pure gold. He died in 1567 and his secret with him, no doubt to the great delight of the goldsmiths of that time. Yet another, according to Bapst, claimed that he could make pewter as soft and pliable as wax, and after working at his will upon it, could give it a hardness quite alien to the ordinary metal. This ingenious process has not come down to us, nor are there specimens in the German museums. English pewterers have tried their hands at the MKASURK WITH IIOLPHIX LIU. {From fht toi/ct/ioii of T. C/iiirbomior, Esq.) 61 DEALERS' AND MAKERS' DODGES 63 same thing, and one Major Purling (Welcii ii. 1 16, 1 17) brought out in 1652 an alloy intended to imitate silver and called Silvorum. The Pewterers' Company nipped this new invention in the bud by prohibiting one of their members, Thomas Allen, from working for Major Purling, and in the following j'ear by fining Lawrence Dyer for making " faulce plat called silvorum," and by confiscating what he had made. Later on Dyer became Warden of the Compan}-, 1669, and Master in 1675. His pewter is of excellent quality. An alloy termed Mclchior is now being made and is popular in France because it looks like silver. It contains Copper ... ... ... 55 parts Nickel ... ... ... 23 „ Zinc ... ... ... ... 17 ,, Iron ... ... ... ... 3 ,, Tin ... ... ... ... 2 „ A French pewterer of the seventeenth centur}' claimed ' that he could make pewter of such excellent quality that he could use his vessels as melting-pots for other makers' silver. The result was that his refined pewter, which looked like silver, was as beautiful in appearance, as light, and as brilliant, was in great request. His price for plain ware was 100 sols the pound, with higher prices for decorated pieces. x'\nother statement which was current with some collectors and dealers, who said they had seen it vouched for in print, was that the X with a crown above it was the excise mark, and showed conclusively that the Government duty on pewter had been paid. Statements such as this are taken in by an easily ' "Journal d'un Voyage a Paris" (1657). 64 CHATS ON OLD PEWTER gullible clientele, and no doubt some collectors in their ignorance have paid fictitious prices for pieces with this, the commonest of all the marks, and which was merely the quality mark and was originally placed only on extraordinary ware. Would the fact of the mark occurring twice be taken to mean that excise duty had been paid more than once for the same piece, or how would the knowing ones get over the difficulty ? Yet another statement which has, sad to say, gone the rounds of some pewter circles from the fact that it it appeared in print, is that the Gloucester candlestick now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Ken- sington, is made of pewter. It is nothing of the sort. It is of pale bronze, cast by the cire perdue process, and richly gilt and decorated. The stem is divided into two parts by bosses, ornamented with the emblems of the Evangelists, supporting a cup at the top. The base is triangular. There are altogether over forty mon- sters represented in grotesque attitudes, wrestling and struggling with nine human beings. It is considered to have been Hildesheim work of the early twelfth century, c. mo. It is figured in Mr. Lethaby's " Mediaeval Art," p. 125. If it had been made in pewter it would hardly have lasted a tenth of the time that has elapsed since it was given by Abbot Peter to the Abbey at Gloucester. Just as we have in our midst those clever fabricators of mediaeval armour and horse trappings, complete to the smallest detail — and there are quite as clever workmen doing it quite openly abroad — so there are to be found pewterers with more ingenuity than morality, and the collector must take the risks — in other words, buy his experience. It is no good trying to formulate a list of "Don'ts" lil((.T||-|;ii\\ I.. KISSI.W \V(H;KM w-iiir. [I'loni III,'