32 
HOUSE & GARDEN 
Black and white jasper me¬ 
dallion of Wedgwood origin 
FROM THE COLLECTOR’S NOTE-BOOK 
Collecting Old Pewter—Wedgwood Jasper Cameos 
and Cameo Medallions 
GARDNER TEALL 
Readers of House & Garden who are interested in 
antiques and curios are invited to address any in¬ 
quiries on these subjects to the Collector’s Depart¬ 
ment, House & Garden, 440 Fourth Avenue, New 
York, N. Y. Inquiries should be accompanied by 
stamps for return postage. Foreign correspondents 
may enclose postage stamps of their respective 
countries. 
A portrait medallion of 
the twelve Caesars series 
T 
EIERE are many persons—some of them collectors—who 
ask what the fascination of old pewter can be, frankly 
declaring that to them it has no attraction. Perhaps to some 
the mention of pewter suggests battered up, dingy, leaden-hued 
objects of metal, more suited to bullets than to buffets. Again, 
there are those who, unacquainted with pewter lore, do not 
guess the wealth of historical interest that invests the subject. 
Relics of any age, so damaged that they no longer com¬ 
mand respectful attention, have no real excuse for perpetua¬ 
tion, unless some highly important historic association attaches 
to them, for surely mere age or antiquity is not a raison d'etre 
with the sensible. Pewter in a state of dilapidation is no ex¬ 
ception to the rule governing the forming of any collection of 
quality, and no matter what its antecedents, it should present 
good form to be worthy a place in the worth-while collection, 
if it is to be regarded with other than the sentiment bestowed 
upon a chipping from the Great Pyramid or a bottle of dust 
from Pompeii. 
But truly hue pewter has attributes to justify its collecting. 
In the first place its decorative quality commends it to notice. 
Here, however, one must remember that an esthetic taste will 
recognize this, where one to 
which the artistic does not 
appeal will overlook it. Sec¬ 
ondly, the story of old pewter, 
as recorded by Welch Masse 
and other authorities on the 
subject, authorities to whom 
the collector-student is bound 
to be indebted for much infor¬ 
mation, is one that lends enter¬ 
tainment to the pursuit of the 
hobby. In this article we will 
deal mainly with the outlines 
of the story of English pew¬ 
ter as serving best to intro¬ 
duce some of the facts that go 
toward making pewter worthy 
the time and the trouble taken 
to collect it. 
A few years ago a “rage” 
for old pewter swept over 
England and America, fol¬ 
lowing a notable exhibition 
(the first of its sort) held at 
Clifford’s Inn, London. This 
was in 1904. To be truthful, 
one must record the “slump” 
that followed a few years 
later. But the true collector 
who had taken up with pew¬ 
ter remained loyal and enthu¬ 
siastic, and with the appear¬ 
ance of such works as 
Welch’s “ History of the 
Pewterers’ Company ” and 
Masse’s “Pewter Plate” and 
“Chats on Old Pewter,” also 
of Gale’s “ Pewter and the 
Amateur Collector,” (a book 
dealing chiefly with American 
pewter) there has been a re¬ 
vival of interest in the subject 
which is becoming permanent. 
Some English pewter pieces; dish, lidded alepot, tall 
pepper, lidded tankard, baluster pepper and beer jug 
English pewter triple-reed plates by R. Moulins (1876), can¬ 
dlesticks, and measures with marked lids by James Tisoe 
English pewter was much simpler than the pewter made in 
other parts of Europe. This latter often attained to an ornate¬ 
ness from which, fortunately, the pewter of England of the 
best period is free. The manufacture of pewter in England 
was governed by the strict rules of the Pewterers’ Company, 
which as early as 1503 made it compulsory for the pewterers 
of England to mark their wares, just as the French pewterers 
of Limoges had been compelled to do a century earlier. Some 
of the early English pewter was marked with the Tudor (her¬ 
aldic) Rose with Crown above, although the Rose and Crown 
is to be found on Scottish and on some Flemish pieces also. 
Individual Marks 
As for the individual marks of the pewterers, these marks 
were called touches. Each pewterer was compelled to have 
his separate touch, which was recorded at the Pewterers’ Com¬ 
pany halls by impressions struck on sheets of lead. Nearly all 
the plates of touches in London so formed prior to 1666 were 
destroyed in the Great Fire, which also destroyed nearly all the 
records, although some of the audit books of the Company, 
dating from 1415, were saved. 
However, on the lead plates 
that have survived we find 
some 1,100 pewterers’ touches 
impressed. The earlier touches 
were somewhat smaller than 
those of later date; some of 
them, in fact, were tiny. The 
mark X on old English pew¬ 
ter was only permitted on 
metal of extra quality, as one 
may learn from one of the 
Company’s rules of 1697, 
which gives notice that “none 
may strike the letter X ex¬ 
cept upon extraordinary ware, 
commonly called hard mettle 
zvare.” The various instances 
of misdeeds on the part of 
pewterers who tried to evade 
the regulations kept the Com¬ 
pany busy for several centu¬ 
ries. The very last regulation 
of the Pewterers’ Company 
concerning touches directs 
“that all wares capable of a 
large touch shall be touched 
with a large touch with the 
Christian name and surname 
either of the maker or of the 
vendor, at full length in plain 
Roman letters; and the wares 
shall be touched with the 
small touch.” A penalty of one 
pence per pound was exacted 
from those pewterers who 
neglected to observe this rule. 
While all the facts concern¬ 
ing the marking of old pewter 
should be diligently studied by 
the collector, as he gathers 
them from this source and 
from that, and will prove of 
great help, be of interest and 
