Description

An excellent example of early English silver. An antique sterling silver tankard with a hinged, flat top lid; the scroll handle with a decorative thumb piece. Good patina. The lovely plain design and hand beaten silver is very charming. To the front there is a hand engraved armorial within tied plumage, very typical of this date.

Contains 1800 ml.

Weight 934 grams, 30 troy ounces.

Height 17.5 cm (to top of thumb piece). Spread 21.8 cm. Diameter 12.5 (top), 14 cm (base).

Fully marked on lid and base, handle unmarked.

London 1664.

Maker Henry Greenway*.

Signed/Inscribed: *It is unusual to have a maker’s name for a piece of silver of this early date as there are no precise records of silver makers’ marks prior to 1697. All records were destroyed in the fire at Goldsmiths Hall in 1681 when the Assay Office and apartments of the Assayer and Clerk in the south west wing of the building were burned down. From 1697 onwards Goldsmiths Hall has preserved a complete record of workmen’s marks, addresses, together with their names and the dates. Sometimes the details of makers can be discovered from old records such as the inventories of noble houses and other institutions. The first surviving record at Goldsmiths Hall is the 1682 copper plate made to start the recording process again. This has recently prompted a study by Dr David Mitchell, supported by Goldsmiths Hall, resulting in the publication of his 2017 “Silversmiths in Elizabethan and Stuart London”. This reference work identifies previously unknown makers marks and assigns marks struck on existing plate to individuals (attributions for 540 separate marks).

This rare antique silver tankard is in very good condition. Good patina. The lid and body have full and matching English silver hallmarks, no makers mark on the handle which is often the case. An attractive feature is the blobby mercury solder underneath and on the hinge which is completely original in the manufacture. The tell-tale dents on top of the handle are where the thumb piece has been touching for more than 350 years. There is a small flaw on the inside edge close to the hinge which appears to be in the manufacture as there are no signs of this carrying through to the top edge or outside surface (see last 2 photos). There is a possible old repair to the edge of the lid (photo 5).

Maker: Henry Greenway

Henry Greenway, London silversmith, apprenticed to Henry Starkey, free 1648. 3 apprentices were bound to and free of Greenway - Robert Smythier, Christopher Kemble and John Richardson. The “HG” mark was attributed to Henry Greenway in Jackson’s “Silver and Gold Marks of England, Scotland and Ireland, Ian Pickford edition”. Greenway was the only plateworker active between 1650 and 1665 with the initials HG (see Dr David Mitchell’s “Silversmiths in Elizabethan and Stuart London”).

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