PEWTER AND THE REVIVAL OF ITS USE. 705 



is produced principally in Niiremburg, Crefeld, and Munich. The 

 (lerman alloys have, in my opinion, however, the disadvantage of 

 being more brittle than those used in this country, and I refer par- 

 ticularly to those used by the company with which my own name is 

 associated. The alloys used b}^ it are, as before mentioned, the results 

 uf careful trials made by my friend, Mr. Haseler, a partner in and 

 director of Liberty & Co.'s works at Birmingham. His endeavor has 

 been to reproduce a metal similar, as far as possible, to the best of the 

 old English pewter, and in point of solidity the new alloy is, I 

 l)elieve, unequaled. The exact constituents and [)roportions used are 

 regarded as a trade secret by my colleagues, as is the case with the 

 composition of the alloy used b}^ our German friends, although both 

 could, doubtless, be readily assayed. 



MANUFACTURE. 



Pewter work is either cast, spun, or hammered, and the methods 

 of manufacture differ in no essential in the present day from those 

 of the olden times. Most of the old pewter was cast in molds of 

 brass, which were highly finished inside and fitted with great nicety. 

 But specially prepared iron is preferred nowadays, as higher skill 

 in the Avorking of the more enduring metal has been attained. 

 Pewter can be cast of any degree of thinness, and is turned out of the 

 mold in a state requiring a minimum of work in the finishing pro- 

 cess, apart from the inevitable polishing and soldering. In the 

 active days of the Pewterers' Company the guild was accustomed to 

 ])urchase and to have made to order a large number of molds, which 

 were let out on hire to its members. The latter, of course, also pos- 

 sessed stocks of molds of their own, often held in shares by different 

 tradesmen. The reason for this arrangement Avas the great expense 

 of producing properly made molds, and by this means the expense 

 was shared by members to mutual advantage. The elaborate pieces, 

 incrusted with ornament in relief, produced on the Continent diiring 

 the Renaissance, especially in the sixteenth century, were cast in a 

 different way, i. e., in sand, and in sections jifterwards soldered to- 

 gether. These pieces, being produced in small (jiiaiititi(>s, the cost 

 of a metal mold would have been prohibitive, since vvn\ for phiiner 

 work it was necessary to spread the cost of a mold over a great num- 

 ber of articles. The articles being cast in sand, howc\'er, left a 

 finely granulated surfai-e, re({uiring a considerable amount of extra 

 labor to finish them l)y polishing and chasing. 



One of the most satisfactory pieces of old English pew^ter, and per- 

 haps tiie exa]ni)le most frequently referred to, is a large dish in the 

 South Kensington Museum, of which, by the courtesy of Sir Caspar 

 Purdon Clarke, T have been enabled to bring a sk'etch iieiv to-night, 

 sxi 19U4 — ^5 



