PEWTER AND THE KF.VIVAL OK ITS T^SE. 705 



is produccMl j)rincipally in Nuivmhiirij, CivtVld, and Munich. The 

 (xcrnian alloys have, in my oi)ini()n, however, the disadvantage of 

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

 ticularly to those used by the company wi(h which my own name is 

 associated. The alloys used by it are, as before mentioned, the results 

 of careful trials made by my friend, Mr. Tlaseler. a partner in and 

 director of Liberty & Co.'s works at IVn-uiiugham. His endeavor has 

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

 old Kngiish [)e\vter, and in ])oint of solidity the new alloy is, I 

 believe, unecpialed. The exact constituents and proportions used are 

 regai"ded as a trade secret by my colleagues, as is the case with the 

 composition of the alloy used by 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 working 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 Avas accustomed to 

 purchase 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 was the great expense 

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

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

 incrusted with ornament in relief, produced on the Continent during 

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

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

 gether. These pieces, being produced in small quantities, the cost 

 of a metal mold would have been prohibitive, siuce even for plainer 

 ^vovk it was necessary to spread the cost of a ni(»l(l over a great num- 

 ber of articles. The articles being cast in sand, however, left a 

 finely granulated surface, re([uiring a considerable amount of extra 

 labor to finish them by polishing and chasing. 



One of the most satisfactory pieces of old English pewter, and per- 

 haps the example most frequently referred to, is a large dish in the 

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

 Purdon Clarke, I have been enabled to bring a sketch hei-e to-night. 

 SM 1904 45 



