Plate

Date1688-1702

MediumPewter

DimensionsDiam: 8 1/2"; W (rim): 9/16"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1982-184

DescriptionPlate: Narrow inclined rim with multiple-reeded face on short concave booge to flat well in center; face of well engraved with bust-length portrait of William III with royal crown with "W" to the left and "R" to the right within a double circle bordered by scrolling and flowered foliage on a serpentine stem.
Label TextPatriotic and naturalistic motifs were the most popular themes for wriggle-engraved decoration on pewter, particularly during the last quarter of the seventeenth century.

A very similar William III portrait plate by the same pewterer is in the collection of the Worshipful Company of Pewterers of London. This same touch mark appears on another plate that was evidently cast from the same mould and engraved with a very similar portrait of William III. It is in the collection of the Worshipful Company of Pewterers of London.

Inscribed"WR" for William III, wriggle engraved in large letters to either side of his portrait in center.

MarkingsTouch mark a stemmed and leafed flower with "C" to the left and "B" or "R" to the right and "1670" below within an outlined circle on underside of well.
ProvenanceVendor: Robin Bellamy Antiques, Witney, Oxfordshire.