Description

Extremely rare provincial silver. A large early English silver peg tankard with flat lid and a vertical row of six pegs inside. Good patina. Scandinavian form* and decorative pomegranate feet and thumb piece. Uninscribed.

Contains 1600 ml.

Weight 733 gms, 23.5 troy ounces.

Height 19 cms (to top of thumb piece). Diameter 12.5 cms (lid).

Fully marked on the body and lid.

Newcastle 1672.

Makers mark “ID” for John Dowthwaite – see Jacksons page 492*.

Sterling silver.

Literature: Peg Tankard
The name ‘peg tankard’ is derived from the vertical row of cylindrical pegs soldered inside the tankard, used to measure the amount of alcohol drunk as the tankard was passed around the table. Each drinker could drink his allocated peg measure. The term ‘peg’ probably derives from the Danish measure ‘paegl’, roughly equivalent to a pint.

Peg tankards have a long history in the Scandinavian and Baltic countries. In England peg tankards were made from the mid-1650s through to the 1680s in York, Hull and other north-eastern towns with close cultural links with northern Europe. They usually follow the Scandinavian form, incorporating floral engraving and pomegranate feet. There is a plain example similar to this in the Metropolitan Museum of Art ref: http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/195229.

Signed/Inscribed: Stamped with makers mark “ID”, lion double struck and the Newcastle castle mark. This is pre-assay office mark. The Newcastle office was opened in 1702.