Tankard
Date1679
OriginEngland, London
MediumPewter
DimensionsOH: 6 3/8"; Diam (base): 4 7/8"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1981-177
DescriptionTankardLabel TextThis example is certainly one of the most remarkable English pewter tankards to have survived from the seventeenth century. One's eye is immediately drawn to the relief decoration of alternate acanthus and palm leaves that encircles the body just above the base. This form of lush banding was extremely fashionable decoration on contemporary silver forms. That it is chased on silver (i.e., created out of the metal of the object through its manipulation with hammer, punch, and other tools) made it suitable for silver, but not for pewter. In those rare instances of this type of decoration on English pewter, the decoration is little more than outlined. The present tankard is the only instance in which it is fully articulated.
This tankard appears to have been made specifically for church use. Its thumbpiece is in the form of a stylized female pelican with its head turned to the side and pointed downward. This act of self-vulning, in which she pecks blood from her chest to feed her young, symbolizes her piety. The conventional denticulations or shaped projections of the cover flange opposite the handle are replaced with a pair of baby birds to represent her young.
Inscribed"1679/RH*WK/Church wardens/of/Englefield" engraved on face of body opposite handle.
MarkingsIndistinct touch mark with the apparent bust length portrait of Charles II wearing a crown with "I" to the left and "C" to the right within an outlined and beaded circle on interior center-bottom of base (London Touch Plate I, 51; Cotterell 5504). Pseudo hallmarks (1) lion standant guardant within a shield, (2) leopard's head crowned within a circle, (3) black letter "I" within a shield, and (4) black letter "C" within a shield on face of body below rim to right of handle.
ProvenanceChurch of St. Mark, Englefield, Berkshire. Given by the church to a retiring sexton. Purchased by Cyril C. Minchin of Bucklebury, Berkshire from the sexton/'s son and by Colonial Williamsburg from Mr. Minchin.
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