Description

A large antique silver mug with a plain, straight sided, tapering form having concentric reeded bands and a simple scroll handle. Very heavy gauge silver. To the front is an impressive hand engraved armorial with the crest of a deer enclosed within an expansive cartouche.

Contains 1100ml.
Weight 590 grams, 18.9 troy oz.
Height 14.6cm. Spread 18.2cm. Diameter 10.7cm (top), 12.6cm (base).
London 1708.
Maker Richard Bayley.
Britannia standard silver.
18th century.

This impressive mug is also a very practical item to use and enjoy. It probably had a hinged lid originally.

Marks. Stamped on the body below the top rim with a full set of English silver hallmarks, maker’s mark to the handle.

*Britannia Standard silver is 95.8% pure. In 1696, so extensive had become the melting and clipping of coinage that the silversmiths were forbidden to use the sterling standard for their wares, but had to use a new higher standard, 95.8 per cent pure. New hallmarks were ordered, “the figure of a woman commonly called Britannia” and the lion’s head erased (torn off at the neck) replacing the lion passant and the leopard’s head crowned. This continued until the old standard of 92.5 per cent was restored in 1720.

Literature. The term “Mug” is traditionally used for a single-handed, lidless drinking vessel and these are nearly all of either pint or half pint capacity. They are rarely found as early as tankards, the first ones being circa 1680. Nowadays mugs are often referred to as “tankards”.

This lovely mug is in good condition with signs of use over the last 300 years. The engraving is still sharp and clear. The mug has been water tested and is fully functional. There is a shallow mark inside the mug where the handle meets the body and several dents to the outside of the handle.

Maker: Richard Bayley

Richard Bayley was apprenticed to Charles Overing in 1699 and turned over to John Gibbons in 1704. Free 1706. First mark entered in 1708 at Foster Lane, London, 2nd mark 1720, third mark 1732. Warden of the Goldsmiths Company 1746-8. Prime warden 1751*. He was known for his good plain hollow-ware such as tankards, jugs, tea and coffee pots. His son, Richard, was apprenticed to Samuel Spindler in 1713.

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