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Rh But few existing specimens of English plate are older than the beginning of the 15th century. Among the few that remain the principal are chalices—such as the two large silver-gilt ones found in the coffin of an archbishop of York, now used for holy communion in the cathedral, and a fine silver chalice from the church of Berwick St James, Wilts, now in the British Museum. Both this and the York chalices are devoid of ornament, and, judging from their shape, appear to be of the first half of the 13th century, which is the date of the fine medieval chalice and paten found near Dolgelly some years ago (the latter now believed in some quarters to be of German origin). Several Tudor cups are in existence: the celebrated one of 1521 (Plate II., fig. 30), an earlier one, 1500, two covered ones of about 1510 and 1512 at Sandwich and Wymeswold, respectively; one (1515) at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and the Bodkin cup (1525) of the Corporation of Portsmouth. A very early beaker (1496) is in a private collection, as is also a small Tudor bowl (1525-1526). The earliest known chalices of silver include the Gourdon chalice and paten, the St Gozlin chalice at Nancy (10th century); the 12th-century specimen in the abbey of Wilten in Tirol.

Secular plate during the 15th and 16th centuries was frequently similar in style to that made in Germany, though the English silversmiths of the latter century never quite equalled the skill or artistic talent of the great Nuremberg and Augsburg silver-workers. In the 17th century, during the reigns of James I. and Charles I., many fine pieces of plate, especially tall cups and tankards, were made of very graceful form and decoration. The greater part of this, and all earlier plate, especially the fine collections belonging to the universities, were melted down during the Civil War. In Charles II.'s reign returning prosperity and the increase of luxury in England caused the production of many magnificent pieces of plate, often on a large scale, such as toilet services, wine-coolers, and even fire-dogs and other furniture. These are very florid in their ornament, much of it

under Dutch influence, and mostly have lost the beautiful forms of the century before (fig. 19 and Plate II, fig. 29). In the early part of the 18th century the designs of English plate were to some extent influenced by the introduction of French ornaments by the large band of French silversmiths who sought refuge in England after the revocation of the edict of Nantes. Chief among these Frenchmen (though probably not a refugee himself) was Paul Lamerie, who produced a large number of notable specimens, the largest of which is a fine wine-cooler in the Winter Palace, St Petersburg. Through the greater part of the reign of George III. English plate is more remarkable for its plain solidity than for artistic merit. With the advent, however, of the talented architects, the brothers Adam, came a taste for plate with classical characteristics. The South Kensington Museum has a small, though fine, collection of plate, varying in date from 1770 to 1788, in the Adam style. Many of Flaxman's designs were produced in plate, among the most important being the “Shield of Achilles,” in silver-gilt, at Windsor Castle. Thomas Stothard, the painter, executed several designs for goldsmith's work for Rundell and Bridge.

The Assay of Gold and Silver Plate.—The primitive method of testing the purity of the metal was by marking a streak with it on the touchstone, and comparing the colour of the mark with that made by various pieces of gold or silver of known degrees of purity Assay by cupellation is now employed for silver: a piece of the silver to be tested is melted with some lead in a cupel or bone-ash crucible; the lead is oxidized, and rapidly sinks into the bone-ash, carrying with it any other impurities which are present. The residue of pure silver is then weighed, and by its loss shows how much alloy it contained. Gold is now tested by an elaborate chemical process by which the trial bit is dissolved in acid, and then thrown down in the form of precipitate, which can be examined by a careful quantitative analysis (see ).

The standard of purity required in the time of Edward I. Was, for gold, that it should be of the “Paris touch,” i.e. 19 carats out of 24. Before then 22 carats was the standard. Silver was to be “of the sterling alloy,” viz. 11 oz. 2 dwt. to the pound. Except for a time during the 16th century this standard of silver has been kept up, and is still required by law.

Hall-marks on Silver.—In the 13th century the English Gild of Gold- and Silver-smiths had grown into great importance, and had acquired monopolies and many special privileges. In order to keep the standard up to the required purity the system of requiring each article to be stamped with certain marks was introduced by royal command. The first of these was the