Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/733

 705 WOMAN'S HOMI MARMtS TO LOOK FOR ON ENGLISH PLATE By Mrs. ARTHUR BELL Author of' The- Elementary History of Art, Representative Painters of the Nineteenth Century r '' Master Puct$ of the Great Artists^' etc., Rcvic^ver of Art and Technical Books, etc. Priceless Old Plate— The Gold and Sjlversmiths' Guild— The Ever-changing Figure of the Llan— How to Detect the Name of the Maker and Date A PART from its beauty and its intrinsic '**• money value, old English plate which has survived to the present day is surrounded b' a halo of indefinable fascination. Connected with old plate, almost in- variably, are many interesting associations, and owners of such of these unique relics as escaped the melting- pot, which, in times of national stress, claimed many priceless heir- looms, naturally are anxious to learn all that is possible con- cerning them, their date, and maker. This task has been s i m p 1 i fi e d greatly, owing to the patient research work of many experts, pre-eminent among whom stands out the late Wilfrid Cripps.* It has also been simplified, owing to the fact that un- broken records have been kept by the London Gold and Sil- versmiths' Guild, and by the admirable series of reproductions of characteristic examples of British plate, from Saxon to modern times, which has been Old English silver candlestick bearing j^rrangcd chro- London hail-mark for 1759-60, • n • .1 nologically in the Albert and Victoria Museum, at South Kensington, t out of print, but an excellent condensed edition, with supplementary information, by Mr. Percy Macquoid, was published by John Murray in 1908, under the title of " The Plate-Collectors' Guide." t The large catalogue of the gold and silver work in the Museum gives the fullest particulars concerning the reproductions, hall-marking, and the standards for gold and silver, whilst the small illustrated " Handbook on College and Corporation Plate," by W. J. Cripps, now out of print, brings out very clearly the various stages through which the art of the gold and silversmiths passed in the British Isles. Fully to master this subject is an occupa- tion which requires much leisure and much study. The object of this article, therefore. IS to enable the reader to distinguish the work of one maker from that of another. Saxon, Norman, and aoth7c Plate In this connection it is unnecessary to do more than refer to the few Saxon, Norman, and early Gothic relics which still survive. These include such things as the tenth century Ardagh cup ; the eleventh century cover of an ancient bell, which is said to have belonged to St. Patrick ; the thir- teenth century coffer, which is one of the greatest treasures of the Victoria and Albert Museum; and the fragment of a silver - gilt drinking cup in All Souls' College, Oxford. To the or- dinary col- lector, and for all practical purposes, however, the history of English plate Old English siK. ng begins with '-°"''°" h«ll-mark for I ni.i the foundation of the Goldsmiths' Guild of London. This guild was incorporated in 1327 by letters patent from Edward III., under the name of " The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mysterj- of Goldsmiths of the City of London," and the charter regulated the sale of gold and silver work, secured the election of honest and skilled craftsmen to rule the trade and to punish offenders against its laws. More- over, it provided that carefully selected representatives of county towns should be periodically sent to the capital, " to be ascertained of their touch of gold.
 * " Old Eiighsh Plate," by W. J. Cripps, is now