New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-08-03
PEWTER.
Trro Books for Collectors Of the once
Popular Metal.


'zw ycRiFr1 FsT EisDF aESFoR b AID De
Masse " A With lo2 illustrations rom oia rE
inEs and Photographs. 4to. pp. XXI 2's- Inc
Macmillan Company.
MARKS on OLD PEWIER ATp s q VIII
q illustrations. Svo Up. 81 Imported by CHa''eS
scribnsr's Sons.
II Is not so long since pewter plate was III
such common use ard deemed Of so little VaIue
or interest thet housekeepers readily yielded up
their DANA ged or old fashioned vessels ana uteh-
sis Of the humble metal to travelling pewterers'
70 be melted and recast into newer forms adapt
Cd 10 the needs OF the moment. AFTER the use
of pewter plate was superseded by the various
forms of chinaware and porcelain ana of cleo
fro rIated silver ware. immense quantities or
pewter articles were sold for what they would
bring as old metal, and were melted, run INTO
bars and used soft solder AS the oldtime
stock became more and more rare through this
wholesale destruction collectors began TO wake
up 10 the beauty OF form of many OF the de-
signs of the old pewterers, and TO the rich sat
isfying color of the material. so much more
pleasing to the aesthetic eye than the brighter
and colder silver plate and the crude and gaudy
decoration OF much Of the factory made china
ware of the present day. Color and form, how
ever are not alone or together. sufficient TO
render q specimen valuable to the ingrained
collector. Age. uniqueness, quality are the at
tributes that make the quarry worthy of the
chase. Unfortunately, the touchmarks on pew
ter, the hammered equivalents to the hallmark
OF the silversmith. unreliable as indications
of the date OF manufacture. There no such
complete system of registration that adopted
by the silversmiths in the Of their hall
marks Much must be left to analogy and guess
work In determining the approximate period OF
any piece of pewter plate
The underlying motive of both the volumes
under consideration is to assist the collector IN
fixing as nearly possible the date of a given
piece. Incidentally both writers give much in
teresting information in regard 10 the origin
and history Of pewter and of its methods OF
manufacture. Mr. Masses book is much the
moro voiuminous of the two, and from literary
standpoint Is superior TO Mr.. Redman's 1t gives
also complete transcription of all the touch
marks registered on the five touch plates still
preserved IN Pewterers' Hall. described by
Charles WEIGH. z. S. A. IN his History OF the
Pewterers' Company" The list IS inconvenient
for reference, from the fact that 1t is arranged
alphabetically by the names OF pewterers in
stead OF according 10 the salient features Of
their marks From the dates given IN this list.
Mr.. Masse believes that It is possible to arrive
very nearly at the age of a piece bearing any OF
the marks noted. But owing TO the destruction of
fact that not all pewter manufactured IN
der the auspices of the London Pewterers Com
pany, while many OF the marks were freely
counterfeted, there must more often than not
be great uncertainty TO the period Of most
OF the old pewter now extant In fact Mr.. Red
maintains that the touch mark is d very
unsafe guide in any case. Yet he prints illus
trations OF many Of them from photographs and
drawings, together with what is known Of their
users and probable dates-a far salts
factory method than that followed by Mr. Masse
IN his wrong -end-foremost list AS Mr.. Red
mans illustrations given simply speci-
mems and frankly incomplete, their value is
OF course, limited for purposes of Identification
1t is only by knowing pewter that the col
lector can arrive at idea OF the age of any
given example To this knowledge either vol
ume Will assist him measurably. Mr.. Masses
more than Mr.. Redman's The books of course
must be studied in connection with the actual
handling and examination Of pieces whose age
and history established. The form of the
article and the quality OF the plate are essential
elements in the determination. This is more
easily done IN the case of the hammered ware
than Of nodded pewter. Not all the pewterers
owned all the molds they used Many of the
mods were the property OF the company" and
were rented 10 Its members according to their
demands Many of the more popular standard
shapes must have been in for long periods
dates. Variety OF decoration and ornament how
ever, will often help to establish the period of a
nodded article of standard model