English Pewter Co.

A flask shaped utensil with hinged lid was discovered in an Egyptian tomb believed to date back to l45OBC. It was analysed and found to be comparable with early 19th century pewter.

Pewter was introduced into Britain around the 2nd century A.D. by the Romans and is mentioned at least twice in the Bible. The Romans used pewter for seals of office and other small devices. The Roman occupation of Britain had much to do with securing the English tin, copper and lead mines of Cornwall - The greatest in the world at the time.

In 1074 Synod at Rouer permitted its use as a substitute for gold or silver in church vessels a concession accepted also at Winchester two years later, again withdrawn in 1175, but once more adopted some twenty years after. In 1274, though we gather that the trade was even then flourishing in Paris and Bruges, during the following century it extended to Augsburg, Nuremberg, Poitiers, Moos and other continental centres.

Through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, tin, lead and copper continued to be England's major export, second only to wool. Pewters domestic use started with caldrons employed for boiling the meat at the coronation of Edward I. In 1290, Edward I had over 300 pewter dishes, salts, and platters. He seems to have had no silver plate at all. By 1390, pewter plates and utensils came into common use by the nobility and high churchmen in France.

From the fourteenth century pewter manufacture grew rapidly and almost every market town of any size would have a pewterer in its craft guild. "The Worshipful Company of Pewterers" of London dates back to 1348 in the reign of Edward III. In 1474 the London Pewterers 'purchased' from King Edward IV a royal charter for the legal control of pewter manufacture.

By Act of Parliament in 1503 all pewter manufacturers were required to strike their maker's mark on their wares. This was to enable identification to be made when checks were carried out at local fairs, London pewterers recorded their marks on thick flat plates kept at Pewterers Hall, where they can still be seen to this day. By this time pewter was in use by all classes. It reached it's peak in the 17th century with master pewterers in Brussels, Nuremberg, Paris, Antwerp, London, Boston, and New York. In these early times pewter contained lead which gave the metal the dark appearance associated with old pieces.

Pewter ware was originally fashioned in two ways, by hammering or by casting, and the workers in each were strictly differentiated, the former, who worked in fine pewter, being known as Sadware men, the latter who used "ley" as Hollow-ware men. A third class, known as Triflers, from the alloy they were limited to, probably at first only manufactured such small articles of domestic use or ornament as did not definitely fall under either of the other headings, but from an authorized list of wares, drawn up by a committee of Triflers in 1612, it is clear that the barrier between them and the Hollow-ware men had been largely broken down.

By the seventeenth century there was scarcely a household in Britain that did not possess some items of pewter; plates, bowls, candlesticks, buttons - everyday items. With the mass production of porcelain tableware in the 18th century, the popularity of pewter crockery declined. And finally, by the Victorian age, electroplating cleared pewter utensils from our tables. But while the quantity declined, the quality craftsmanship rose with some of the greatest works of Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts periods being cast in pewter.

By the 1930's, England became world renown for fine pewter craftsmanship, which was the result of their high production and design standards, established guidelines and rigorous testing procedures. Today pewter items are enjoying an enormous revival, both consumer and craftsman have rediscovered the glowing beauty and practical function of fine pewter. Around the globe pewter is enjoying a Renaissance that grows each year.