"Marriage" Plate

Dateca. 1674

MediumPewter

DimensionsDiam: 9 9/16"; W (rim): 1 15/16"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1981-210

DescriptionPewter marriage plate in Charles II style has broad flat rim, engraved and inscribed "THE GIFT IS SMALL THE LOVE IS ALL 1674."
Label TextThis inscribed plate, decorated with a unicorn with a cupid's bow and arrow in the clouds above, was intended as a keepsake, perhaps at time of marriage, rather than an object of daily use. The rim is pierced with a small hole for hanging and display.

A broad-rim dish of the same year and by the same maker, inscribed in large letters "SAINT GEORGE FOR ENGLAND" and engraved with St. George and the Dragon, was formerly in collection of Kenneth W. Bradshaw.

Inscribed"THE GIFT IS SMALL THE LOVE IS ALL 1674" engraved on interior face of booge.
MarkingsTouch mark the arms of the Pewterers' Company with "SB" with a mullet to either side above and scrolls at the sides within a vertical oval (Cotterell 5463). Pseudo hallmarks a lion passant within a rectangle repeated four times on face of rim (Cotterell 5463).
ProvenanceA.T. Isher, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (sold after his death by Bruton Knowles & Co., 1976); purchased from Jellinek & Sampson, London.