1917.] SILVER-PL ATJE MARKS. 49 



that it is probable that they are marks of French refugees 

 from religious persecutions. The Massacre of St. Bartholo- 

 mew took place in 1572 and the Revocation of the Edict of 

 Nantes in 1685, which were the chief factors in the flight 

 from France of persons who preferred to change their nation- 

 ality to their religion. And these dates correspond to a great 

 extent with the dates which are associated with these marks. 

 There is also the obvious French design of those marks which 

 aim at more than the maker's initials, and this gives further 

 weight to this supposition. 



When the matter is considered, it is not difficult to 

 understand how easy it was for a refugee silversmith to set up 

 a small business. His tools could be of the scantiest kind, 

 his craftsmanship being of more value to him than elaborate 

 tools, as witness the Hindoo silversmith who with a single 

 nail struck by a stone off the road is able to turn out most 

 elaborate work while sitting in front of your house. So it 

 was with these refugees. The coin of the realm supplied the 

 raw material. Their domestic bellows, a handful of charcoal 

 and a clay pot did all that was necessary to melt the silver 

 coins down and their craftsmanship did the rest. The tools 

 they required were very few in comparison with the Avants of 

 a carpenter, for instance. 



It is as well, however, not to dwell too much on the cer- 

 tainty that the pieces stamped with these marks are necessarily 

 the work actually of those who stamped the pieces. In two 

 cases at least, those of Nos. 14 and 23 the marks are defacing 

 the English Hall-mark, showing that the vendor, or rather the 

 stamper, was a factor and not the actual manufacturer ; and 

 it is not at all improbable that some at least of the persons 

 who put their marks on the pieces merely procured the pieces 

 unstamped and put their marks on them for their own pur- 

 poses. 



Even in that case these marks are worth recording, 

 if they only show that there was a trade in luxuries in those 

 days. 



The commonest mark in Jersey is No. 2. The letters 

 I. Or. are worth examination, as there are in the La Cloche 

 Memoirs reprinted by the Societe Jersiaise, some remarks 

 which may be connected with this mark (Bulletins, Vol. 4, 

 p. 230). It notes that in 1637 Amyce de Carteret, Seigneur 

 of Trinity, in Jersey, went over to Eennes to marry the 

 daughter of a certain Jean Girard, silversmith, a native of 

 Jersey. The similarity of the initials, however, are the only 

 means of identification. 



