Expert: Martin G Roberts - 10/17/2006

Question
One final thought on hoping it was from an ancestor.  Matthew Dillon was married to a Dutch woman.  Could it have been given to them from her family using some arrangement of his family names?  Thanks, Halley
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Question -
Thank you for your quick reply.  What could be a likely order for the ownership initials?  Could it be from a Matthew Dillon?  The first D and M?  Thank you
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I know nothing about pewter, but have an old very large plate or charger that is suppose to have been in the family for 100-150years.  I would love to figure out which ancestor, if any , it belonged to.  It should be Irish, is very heavy, the touchmark is mostly gone and is on the rim on the front of the plate.  The plate is very plain but marked along the rim with what looks like a hand stamped design in a garland type shape.  There are four letters on the front , all in capitals like this  D*M*A*L with the astericks.  I was wondering, what the order of the letters might mean.  I had two ancestors named Matthew Dillon and wondered if this could have belonged to either of them.  Any light you could shed would be of great service.  Thank you, Halley

Answer -
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Hmmm, very unlikely to be Irish, I'm afraid. Sounds like a Low Countries product - DMAL will be ownership initials from that part of the World. It is almost unheard of for maker's principal touchmarks to appear on the front of the rim - the mark you are seeing might be another ownership marks, or some kind of subsiduary maker's mark. 18th or early 19th Century is most likely date.

Martin
www.antique-metalware.co.uk


Answer -
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No, it will be a four-part Dutch or Flemish name.  

Answer
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It is conceivable it came to your family thru that Dutch link, but the initials are simply those of a Low Countries person - there is nothing mysterious, unusual or unexpected here, and specious arguments about re-arrangement of initials do not hold water. These initialled plates from the Low Countries are very common, and can be picked up all over the place.