House and Garden 
CHINESE PEWTER WARE 
Exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition and noiv in the Collection of the Pcnna. Museum 
for several centuries previous to that date 
pewter had been produced in greater or 
lesser quantities in various parts of England. 
In 1496 a Pewterer’s Guild was established 
in Edinburgh, Scotland, where for several 
centuries later the art continued to flourish. 
During this same period, pewter making 
was one of the firmly established industries 
in Germany, France, Belgium and other 
parts of Europe. The art was carried to its 
greatest perfection in France by Franciscus 
Briot, in the latter part of the sixteenth and 
the beginning of the seventeenth centuries. 
Many of his elaborately executed designs in 
tankards, ewers, salvers and dishes, were 
veritable works of art 
and found a ready 
market among the 
higher and wealthier 
classes. H is best 
pieces of work were 
usually signed and 
some of these are 
now carefully pre¬ 
served in the public 
museums of France 
and England. 
Pewter ware was 
made extensively in 
Germany for many 
centuries. A curious little tray or wafer dish 
of German manufacture is elaborately em¬ 
bellished with relief medallions illustra¬ 
tive of Bible stories. In the center is a 
representation of Noah with his family, sur¬ 
rounded by beasts, offering sacrifices to God 
after leaving the Ark. Around the border are 
designs representing the Garden of Eden, 
the Temptation, the Expulsion, and Abra¬ 
ham about to sacrifice Isaac. The spaces 
between these medallions are filled with a 
handsome pattern consisting of a vase sur¬ 
rounded by arabesques and two cherubs’ 
heads above. The exact period of this pro¬ 
duction is probably 1619, since an example 
PEWTER FLAGONS 
Decorated , inscribed and dated. German XVIII Century <ivork 
In the Collection of the\Penna. Museum 
105 
