Charles II Antique Silver Beaker

Description

A highly sought after and rare provincial beaker from Taunton in the West Country. This superb 17th century antique silver cup has a tapering form and a broad band of deep chased floral decoration. Very good size and large capacity. Line engraved initials “MR*P” to the underside. Excellent patina.

Contains 310ml.
Weight 110g, 3.5 troy oz.
Height 9.9cm, 3.9ins. Diameter of top 8.6cm.
Taunton circa 1675.
Maker Thomas Dare junior.
Sterling silver.

After Bristol, Taunton was the most important of the Somerset centres of goldsmithing. The bulk of known surviving pieces are spoons. Dare’s life was remarkable – see the maker biography below.

Marks. Stamped underneath with the Taunton ‘T’ and ‘Tun’ mark and Thomas Dare’s maker’s mark four times.

This lovely beaker is in very good condition with just the minor wear you’d expect with age. The cup has been water tested and does not leak.

Maker: Thomas Dare junior

Thomas Dare junior, Somerset silversmith working in Taunton circa 1660-1680. Thomas’s remarkable life is outlined in T.A. Kent’s article 'When Goldsmiths Dare…', published by the Silver Society, Autumn 1984. Kent tells the story of how Dare, prosecuted for his seditious remarks against the King, was imprisoned in February 1680 but later escaped and fled to Holland where he was given charge of the Duke of Monmouth's finances and he returned to England with the Duke's forces in 1685 - only to be shot in a quarrel over a horse. A number of spoons by the Dare family survive but beakers and other hollow-wares are much rarer. Kent illustrates two beakers, two porringers and a wine-taster, formerly in the collection of G.S. Sanders but subsequently purchased by the Taunton museum, as well as a small wine cup on trumpet foot. The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, has a drawing in pastel and black chalk, almost certainly of Dare, in its collection [WA1940.50].

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