Expert: Martin G Roberts - 6/29/2004

Question
Hello Martin,
I have an old pewter tankard with three circular marks (about 12mm diameter) under the lid. One is duplicated and has the date 1717 at the top of the mark,underneath that are the letters MCF and beneath that is an animal which could be a fox on the run, tail straight out and ears up I can't make out what is in front of the animal. The other stamp seems to be a tree.The tankard is 180mm high and has the words GEORGE+CROM with the same date 1717 inscibed beneath, can you help with identification and age, Thank you, regards Brian.  

Answer
The marks - style, positioning, and layout - are typical of north-west continental european pewterers of the 18th century. Could be Dutch, German, Flemish, Scandinavian, or perhaps French. The date in the touch would be the date the pewterer was 'made free' of his local pewterers guild.

However, there are some very well made fakes that bear good copies of dated touchmarks of continental origin, so the inscribed name and date underneath (matching the date in the touch) I think rather suspicious. Without handling the piece I cannot be certain (photos don't really help), but you should not be under the impression that the piece is any older than 1890. If the piece is in very good condition, and the interior surfaces are fairly bright, it is even more likely to be a fake.