Expert: Martin G Roberts - 1/15/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hi Martin,
I have this tankard/measure (I think) that was my great grandmother's and I was hoping you could identify it for me and if so maybe you could provide some history on it. The only markings on it is a stamp of London England with a log stamped in that is quite faded. From reading your profile it would appear to me that you could probably easily identify the piece by the markings.

I have attached a couple of pictures in the hopes you can help me out. If you need more information I would be happy to provide by e-mail.

Thanks in advance,
Vince

ANSWER: -

Hello Vince,

Only the photo of the marks is visible via AllExperts, but I think I can answer your question, albeit perhaps disappointingly for you.

The large blob of a mark is a touchmark featuring, in heraldic terms, a horse's jamb (leg) issuant (rising from) a ducal coronet (a type of crown). This is the touchmark that was used by a series of pewterers who were based in Bewdley, in Worcestershire, England, starting with John Duncumb in about 1720, then his son Stynt Duncumb around 1740-70, then his successor John Ingram until about 1810, and then other firms in Bewdley and, later, in Birmingham. These makers were prolific, and this touchmark is one of the most commonly seen and familiar marks in British pewter. However, it is the type of mark that was intended to be used on plates, dishes and bowls - marks like this were not usually applied to holloware such as tankards, mugs or measures.

But in the 20th Century this mark (or a copy of it) was used on reproduction pieces, and often it is found on reproduction holloware as well as reproduction plates. The use of "ENGLAND" makes it certain this is a reproduction piece, as this word was never used on antique pewter.

So not great news, I'm afraid, but these repro pieces are very common and very often they appear in the antiques trade being offered as authentically old pieces.

Hope that helps.

Martin
www.antique-metalware.co.uk

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Martin,
Thanks for the quick reply. Are you not able to tell me the manufacturer? Can you tell me an approximate year it was made? What exactly is it? Tankard, Measure, etc. Is it at all possible it is not a replica? My great grandparents were very well to do and shopped in the finest establishments all over the world. I have attached another picture as well.
Thank you,
Vince

Answer
-

Hello Vince,

Now that I can see a photo of the object, it absolutely confirms my original opinion. This form was retailed by Pearson Page & Jewsbury of Birmingham, England, in the mid 20th Century. They were probably made by Gaskell & Chambers, a long-established traditional pewtering firm in Birmingham, the last of the pewterers in that city, who started in the very late 19th Century and took over various other firms with lineage stretching back to the Duncumb's in Bewdley in the early-mid 18th Century.

This particular shape in fact is not an exact reproduction of an old British style. Very similar holloware was made in Continental Europe, but this particular shape combines features of Dutch/French vessels (that may have either been flagons or measures) with those of Scottish tappit hens (strange name, I know, but that's what they were called) which were principally used as measures.

I do realize that it may have been purchased from a reputable establishment. Pieces like this can fool any but the most expert pewter specialists, and many were exported by British antiques dealers of the mid 20th Century for sale through the antiques trade in North America and the Antipodes. Sometimes, these dealers knew they were selling reproductions, and in some cases they added spurious labels to reinforce the supposed antiquity of the pieces. We now know the names of most of these dealers, and in one case we know whose typewriter was used to type up the misleading labels!

Again, I'm sorry that is disappointing news, but I can assure you that the information I've given is accurate.

Hope that helps.

Martin
www.antique-metalware.co.uk