Description

An excellent early English silver tankard with straight sides and plain form. Lovely hand beaten finish. Good proportions and excellent colour.

Contains 600ml (568ml = 1 pint).
Weight 292g, 9.3 troy oz.
Height 11.5cm. Diameter of top 8.5cm.
London 1719.
Maker Seth Lofthouse.
Britannia standard silver (95.8% pure).

Marks. Stamped on the body next to the handle with a full set of English silver hallmarks.

Britannia Standard. 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. 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. Britannia standard silver still continues to be produced even today.

Literature. The term “mug” is traditionally used for a single-handed, lidless drinking vessel. They are nearly all of either pint or half pint capacity. Antique silver mugs are very rarely found as early as tankards, the earliest seeming to date from about 1680

This historic silver mug is in very good condition with minor wear consistent with its age. Good colour. The cup has been tested for water retention and doesn’t leak.

Maker: Seth Lofthouse

Seth Lofthouse, London silversmith, elder brother of Matthew Lofthouse, apprenticed to William Wakefield of the Merchant Taylor’s Company 1676. Freedom not recorded. Mark entered as largeworker in 1699. William Bellasis apprenticed to him in 1709. Listed as dead in the Haberdashers’ Company records of 1727.

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