Old Pewter 
ably borrowed 
from some 
European 
maker to de¬ 
ceive the un¬ 
wary purchas¬ 
er who wanted 
imported 
ware. At a 
later date, 
C a p e n & 
M o 1 i n e a u 
were manu¬ 
facturing pew¬ 
ter fluid lamps 
in the same city. The American pewterers 
do not seem to have had any organization, 
and consequently no guild marks were used, 
but it is interesting to find on the products 
of certain independent makers these sugges¬ 
tions of hall-marks, • which probably pos¬ 
sessed no special significance. I'he marks 
on the Bassett trencher, while somewhat worn 
and indistinct, are probably intended to 
represent a lion rampant, a pair of scales, a 
ship and a castle. 
The manufacture of pewter in the United 
States never approached the nature of a fine 
art. The pieces produced were severely 
plain and undecorative. 'The usual vessels 
were tankards, bowls, basins, porringers, 
plates, chargers or circular platters, spoons, 
candlesticks and, at a later day, when pewter 
was replaced by Britannia ware and Babbitt 
metal, whole tea services were manufactured, 
often in graceful shapes, but usually devoid of 
embellishment. The latter composition was 
invented by Isaac Babbitt, of Taunton, 
Mass., about 1825, and was almost identical 
with the Britannia ware of England. 
There are many qualities, real or imagi¬ 
nary, which are attributed to pewter, such as 
its peculiar adaptability to the use of malt 
liquors. Judges of the merits of ale and 
beer will tell us that these beverages never 
possess so rich a flavor when drunk from 
other vessels as when quaffed from pewter 
mugs. This idea has persistently obtained 
through all the 
centuries of 
pewter - mak¬ 
ing,eventothe 
present day, 
and it is a mat¬ 
ter of histori¬ 
cal record that 
i n the year 
1828 a certain 
faction of the 
Democratic 
party in New 
York City, 
which was op¬ 
posed to the Tammany candidates, were known 
by their opponents as “ Pewter-muggers,” be¬ 
cause their meetings were held over pewter 
mugs in a well-known resort in Frankfort St. 
There is no more satisfactory metal than 
pewter for artistic treatment, susceptible as it 
is to a mirror-like and permanent polish, or 
to a dull, satiny finish ; of sufficient hardness 
to fulfil all requirements, while possessing the 
requisite degree of softness and malleability. 
In short, it is a material which may be melted 
and shaped in moulds, beaten or “ spun ” 
into form ;—a combination of desirable prop¬ 
erties not possessed by any other inexpensive 
composition employed by the worker in 
metals in the useful and decorative arts. 
Some attempts have been made in recent 
years to revive the manufacture of art pew¬ 
ter, notably in Germany, in the so-called 
Kayserzinn, which has lately come into pop¬ 
ular favor. At the Chicago Exposition in 
1 893 highly decorative work in pewter was 
exhibited in the Bavarian section, one piece 
of which, now in the Pennsylvania Museum, 
is a tall vase or standing cup, the work of 
Anton Schreiner. Taking it all in all, it is 
doubtful if we of the present day shall ever 
derive as much gratification from the owner¬ 
ship of modern art pewter as did our ancestors 
in the possession of their homely utensils 
which, ranged along the dresser or mantel in 
their shimmering glory, reflected the cheer¬ 
ful fire of the hospitable chimney-place. 
SPOON-MOULDS 
Used by American Pew levers in Colonial times In the Collection of the Penna. Museum 
Hall-marks on the Bassett trencher , page ioq 
I IO 
