704 PEWTEE AND THE REVIVAL OF ITS USE. 



that the Pewterers' Company possessed and exercised their peculiar 

 powers. Thus, as has been noted, all tin brought to London was 

 liable to be assayed by the company's inspector before being sold, 

 and it could be seized and forfeited if of inferior quality, no matter 

 to Avhom it might belong. It w^as also ordered (in 1438) that all 

 articles (in accord with a published list) should be of a certain 

 standard weight, thus insuring to purchasers a definite quantity of 

 the metal. This was doubtless an excellent rule to prevent fraud 

 when recasting was so constantly resorted to in order to make good 

 the constant wear and tear to which pewter articles were liable at 

 a time when they were used for practically all domestic purposes. 

 Thus, it was a definite rule that " chargeours *" of the largest size 

 w^ere to weigh three-fourths hundredweight per dozen, i. e., 7 pounds 

 each, and small " holies " 13 pounds per dozen. 



In the present day and of late years many experiments have been 

 made and various modifications have been tried in the composition of 

 pewter, nearly every manufacturer having his own particular for- 

 mula. For the production of modern pewter goods aspiring to be 

 classed as artistic in design, the inferior alloy containing lead is dis- 

 carded altogether (except by the Japanese in the manufacture of 

 their antimony ware). And to avoid as far as possible the use of 

 copper, which some consider to have a bad effect on the color, tin is 

 nowadays alloyed in the proportion of about 5 per cent of antimony, 

 or bismuth, or both. An excess of copper imparts a brownish tint, 

 whilst the use of lead (always be it remembered the alloy of the 

 so-called second quality pewter) imparts the Avell-known gray color 

 tone which, be it acknowledged, has for some of us a decided charm. 

 kStill, as we knoAv, if lead is used beyond a certain proportion it ren- 

 ders the pewter dangerous for the use of liquors containing acids, 

 such as beer, Avine, vinegar, etc., by reason of the chemical action they 

 set up, the excess lead producing poisonous oxides. 



A series of experiments Avere made some years ago under the 

 auspices of the Frencli Government, AA'hich resulted in a laAA' being 

 passed prescribing the proportion of lead Avhich may safely be used, 

 and this AA'as fixed for France at 16^ per cent. The old peAA^terers 

 appear to haA^e had one advantage over the modern in the fact that 

 their lead neai'ly always contained a small percentage of sih^er, 

 which (unfortunately for the pewter trade) science has enabled the 

 modern smelters to extract. That is to ssij, the fascinating luster 

 Avhich many old pieces of peAvter possess is generally ascribed to the 

 presence of this small proportion of silver in alloy. Modern German 

 pcAvter, as compared Avith modern English, contains a much larger 

 proportion of antimony, AA'ith some bismuth, and gives out when bent 

 or bitten (Avhich the modern English does in a far less degree) the 

 well-knoAvn distinguishing crackle or cri. Modern German pewter 



