Expert: Martin G Roberts - 9/30/2006

Question
Hi martin.
     
  I bought a set of james yates tankards.1quart,1pint& half pint,about 4 years ago,for £120.And although i've had to put up with quite a bit of stick off my wife, i quite like them. they have numerous markings on them which i don't know a lot about,mostly near the rim.on the right-hand side of the handle there is a crown,with K K stamped under it. Then near that there is a letter G then some kind of other mark with a 08 after.On the left-hand side of the handle there is a crown with letters VR stamped under, then under that there is a number 5 with what looks like a backward C. Also inside the tankard at the base there is a crown with a X at the bottom and the numbers 2,3 &4 above the crown.
 Please could you shed some light on these markings and also if i have payed over the odds for them.

 thank you.
           PAUL

Answer
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Paul,

A good sensible question about antique pewter - yippee!

James Yates was a very prolific maker indeed, so his products are very common. But an original set in good condition is still fairly hard to find, so the price was not exhorbitant in the retail antiques trade provided condition is good. Yates worked in partnership with other people until 1860, when he set up on his own, working until 1881. But the brand name was continued in use by successor firms until at least 1899, and the name was resurrected by a descendent firm in the mid 20th Century. But your pieces will be 19th Century. Yates' workshop was 9-40 Cole Street, Birmingham.

The marks you describe in the base are unusual. Usually on Birmingham holloware we see a crowned X - a symbol that dates back to the 17th Century on pewter, when it was a quality mark, but which by the late 19th Century was fairly meaningless. This is normally accompanied a single digit or letter, which is assumed to indicate the workbench within the workshop where it was assembled. Having three digits down there is something I don't recall seeing, and I'm not sure what it might indicate.

The marks under the rim are capacity verification stamps, applied by weights and measures inspectors to indicate the pot complies with the capacity standard in force - which would be Imperial standard by the time James Yates was working. KK is the mark for the Borough of Kendal, then in Westmorland, used from about 1830 'til about 1879. Thereafter a national system of numbers was used and the crowned VR (royal cypher for Victoria Regina) over 50 (not a backward C) is one such, 50 being one of the Uniform Verification numbers for Westmorland. You can read more about these verification marks on my website at www.antique-metalware.co.uk, clicking on verifications on the menu.

The G?08 mark I'm not sure about - it could be another verification mark, but I would have to see it to be sure.

Hope all this is useful. And hang on to the pewter - it is collectable, decorative and full of interest!

Best regards

Martin