Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 9.djvu/186

 132 OX THE ASSAY MARKS OX GOLD AND SILYEE PLATE. The consuls seized several of their works, had them assa^^ed, found them fraudulent, and made them appear before the tribunal. In their defence, they pleaded that the ordinances of 1355 were obsolete with regard to small " orfeTeries." They were condemned to pay a fine of 10 marks of silver each ; and, on appeal, the sentence was confirmed. They claimed exemption from marking girdles and small works ; an inquest was held, and the following ordinances resulted, which were solemnly renewed in 1436 with still stricter conditions ; and they show with what care the fabrication of works of gold and silver was regulated. To insure, there- fore, the legal standard, they ordained, besides the ordinary precaution of the box, the " borihls,'' the trial pieces, and the name of the silversmith, that the name of the warden of the mysteiy inscribed on the register of the city, and on the private book of the silversmiths, should be followed by one of the letters of the alphabet, which should be reproduced beneath the ecusson (shield of arms) of the town on each work, in order that it might be known under what warden it was made. These proceedings of the goldsmiths of Montpellier are highly interesting and important, since they not onl}^ give us an account of the frauds and the alteration of the standard, together with the particulars of the assay, which in its system with the box and trial pieces bears a very strong analogy to our trial of the Pyx, but also gives us the date, origin, and establishment of three important marks, viz., the mark ot the country or city, the mark of the maker, and the annual letter, all of which have been adopted in this countr}'. The fraternity of goldsmiths at Paris, which, as we have seen, was ver}^ early estabhshed, and had a code of statutes given to it in 1260, had a second and more extensive code given to it by the King (John II.) in 1355. Here it is ordered that every goldsmith who was approved by the masters of the craft should have a puncheon with a counter- mark of his own. Amongst other things, the}^ were for- bidden to work in gold unless it be of the touch of Paris or better ; and we are there informed that it is better than all the golds which they work in other lands, and that its fine- ness is 19y carats. They are also forbidden to work in base metal, to use false stones of glass, or to put coloured foil beneath real stones. Their silver was to be '"' aroent le rov,"