ECCLESIASTICAL PLATE

In regard to sacred vessels in use in this country before the Reformation it is noteworthy that in design they cling to a national form and differ very considerably from those used in early mediÆval days or at the present time in the Roman Catholic Church.

Prior to the Reformation the plate found on the altar for the celebration of the Holy Sacrament consisted of a chalice, a paten, two cruets to contain wine and water for consecration, which were really two ewers with lids of small size, and the pyx in which the Eucharist was reserved.

The chalice consisted of three parts: the cup or bowl, the stem which in its middle swelled out into a bulb called the knop, for the convenience of holding it, and the foot.

The paten was a small salver slightly sunk in the middle like an ordinary plate.

Henry VIII in his spoliation of the monasteries, their lands and their gold and silver plate, set the pace which was continued under Edward VI. No stone was left unturned to stamp out all traces of the old religion. It is remarkable that so much has escaped the blind fury that seized the reformers in their lust for destruction. Whole libraries were destroyed; illuminated books were consigned to the flames as the work of the devil. Stained glass windows, carved woodwork with figures of saints, brasses with religious emblems, all fell beneath the ruthless hand of the iconoclastic Puritan.

“At Sunbury we brake down ten mighty great angels in glass, at Barham brake down the twelve apostles in the chancel, and six superstitious pictures more there: and eight in the church, one a lamb with a cross on the back: and digged down the steps and took up four superstitious inscriptions in brass.” So writes one Dowsing, a fanatic, in a diary he kept of his doings, where he and his myrmidons scoured a hundred and fifty parishes. Bishop Hall of Norwich saved his windows by taking out the heads of the figures.

With such religious fervour abroad it can well be imagined that the altar vessels, the fine chalices and other ecclesiastical plate, came under the ban that had been pronounced against relics of a Church which, whatever may have been its dogmas, had always encouraged the fine arts and employed the genius of the craftsmen in creating edifices which stand among the noblest of man’s handiwork and in embellishing them with decorations as spiritual as the brain of the artist could conceive.

It is not surprising to find the commissioners appointed by Edward VI making as exhaustive an inquiry throughout the land as the valuers of a modern Chancellor of the Exchequer. They seized all the plate in the churches with the exception of chalices and patens, and these they weeded out if they considered the parish too small to have more than one or two. Hence it is rare to find pre-Reformation ecclesiastical plate, even chalices and patens, because the Church authorities preferred to melt it down and use the money for other purposes than to have it confiscated.

In 1547 by 1 Edward VI it was enacted that communion in both kinds should be administered to the laity. The old form of chalice and paten remained for a time, as even the Reformation with all its fury could not and did not wholly uproot all the most sacred and deeply seated ritual in connexion with religious observances. The subject of the change in the form of the chalice with its inverted cup and the introduction of the severer form of the open communion cup and the flagon, is a study in ecclesiastical and political history which cannot be further pursued here.

In general it may be said that the old forms of chalice are not frequently met with, and have been carefully guarded by religious bodies, possibly having to be hidden. The examples now extant are usually found in cathedral cities and in the custody of corporate bodies or Church authorities. We are fortunate in being able to reproduce illustrations of some fine Exeter examples exhibiting exquisite symmetry and characteristic ornamentation.

The paten, it should be observed, was made to serve as a cover for the communion cup, a style which appears to have been general in Elizabeth’s day, and the old pre-Reformation paten was discarded by ecclesiastical law.

In the illustration given (p. 67) of a chalice and cover this form is seen. The specimen is silver-gilt of the style known as the Exeter pattern. The bowl is conical in shape with engraved foliated ornament. The knop is fluted and the foot is in similar style. The inscription is “St. Petrox, Exon,” and the piece is still in the possession of the parish of St. Petrock, Exeter. The maker is I. Ions, and the piece bears the Exeter hall-mark for the year 1572, the year of the massacre of St. Bartholomew.

The chalice and cover illustrated on the same page is another fine example of the Exeter pattern, with inscription on cover “The Paryshe of Trynitye in the yeare of our Lorde 1575.” The maker is I. Ions and the Exeter date mark 1575. The marks of this piece are illustrated page 391.

Another Elizabethan chalice and cover bears the London hall-mark of 1573. It is parcel gilt, has a straight bowl with slight lip, and engraved foliated bands. Its inscription is “St. Martin’s in Exon.” This is illustrated on page 71 together with a Charles I chalice and cover made by J. R. Radcliff and bearing the Exeter mark of 1640, the date when Strafford was impeached and two years before the outbreak of the Civil War. The illustration shows the mark on the middle of the bowl, with the maker’s name in full between the two bands of floriated decoration.

An interesting Charles II cup, silver-gilt, is illustrated page 75. The maker’s mark is H. G. and the date letter is a black-letter capital C, indicating the year 1660. The illustration shows the position of the marks and the irregular manner in which they were stamped at that period. The marks are illustrated on page 369. Cups such as this have sometimes had portions added to them, converting them into ewers with curved spout and large handle. There is a piece among the corporation plate at York which suggests such an alteration. In the days of Charles II the puritanic form of the few pieces of plate then remaining offended the new spirit of gaiety. Cromwell’s cavalry had stabled their horses in cathedrals; with the Restoration, communion cups were converted into vessels for less sacred use.

Illustrated on the same page are two William III flagons, with date letter for 1692, and maker’s mark I. Y. These are in the possession of the parish of St. Martin’s, Exeter. These flagons were wrought in London in the fateful year when Marlborough was dismissed from his office on suspicion of high treason, when Louis XIV espoused the cause of the exiled James and prepared to invade England. By the naval victory of La Hogue the supremacy of the seas was gained. On land the French took Namur, but although William was defeated he prevented the French from entering Brussels. All these pieces of news filtered through to London in the days when the craftsman was patiently hammering these flagons and twisting the handles and fashioning the thumb-pieces. To-day to the curious and pensive mind the row of stamped symbols recalls the England of William.

Examples of the patens later in use are shown on page 79. The two Charles II pieces are on feet, and it will be seen that they are ornamented with rope-pattern borders. They are inscribed “St. Martin’s in Exeter.” The London date letter is for 1680, and the maker’s mark is E. G. Between them stands a Queen Anne lavabo bowl with the Exeter mark for 1702, the maker being John Elston.

A Queen Anne paten is illustrated beneath on the same page. The Exeter date mark is for 1714, and the maker is Pentecost Symonds. The illustration shows in what position the marks are placed, and they are illustrated on page 391.

A remarkable communion cup and cover of small size is illustrated on page 81. This is a George II specimen and is unique. It bears the Exeter mark for 1729, and the maker is James Strong. The stem of this cup is in baluster form of fine proportions. The cover is remarkable, being intended, when removed, for use as a flat paten. In addition to the usual central button it has four small additional feet. It was intended for the use of the sick, hence its smaller size. Altogether it is a most remarkable piece. It has an inscription which runs: “Deo Christo et Ecclesiae St. Martini Exon in usu infirmorum.” The marks on it are given under the illustration.