Description

A rare piece of early English antique silver. A compact size silver cup with serpent shaped side handles. The hand beaten finish is typical of this early date and is very appealing. Superb colour. The body is decorated all round with deep relief flowers and foliage, very florid, as you’d expect at this date.

Weight 274 grams, 8.8 troy ounces.

Diameter 10 cms. Height 9 cms. Spread 17 cms.

London 1664. Very historic – this was made in the 5th year of Charles II reign after the restoration of the monarchy and 2 years before the Great Fire of London.

Maker Henry Greenway

Sterling silver.

Signed/Inscribed: It is unusual to have a makers name for a piece of silver of this early date as there are no precise records of silver makers marks prior to 1681. All records were destroyed in the fire at Goldsmiths Hall in that year when the Assay Office and apartments of the Assayer and Clerk in the south west wing of the building were burned down. Sometimes the details of makers can be discovered from old records such as the inventories of noble houses and other institutions, which presumably was how such a long list of pieces by Henry Greenway was identified.

This outstanding example of early English silver is in excellent condition. Lovely patina. Good weight. Crisp, clear marks. There is no sign of damage or repair.

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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