SCOTTISH SILVER

The study of Scottish silver is a special one. Its manufacture and the statutes governing the goldsmiths and silversmiths extend back to the fifteenth century. The chief centres of marking and assaying were primarily Edinburgh and latterly Glasgow in addition. But it is remarkable how many towns and burghs assayed silver. In comparison with England the manufacture of silver plate seems to have covered a wider area in Scotland. Examples are extant showing that Dundee assayed silver as early as the seventeenth century, with the town mark of the two-handled pot with lilies, and the same mark was used in the late nineteenth century. Perth had its lamb and the flag, emblem of St. John. Aberdeen had the letters ABD; Elgin had ELN; Banff had BA; and Inverness had INS, or its mark of a camel. This is enough, meagre though it be, to indicate that the identification of Scottish silver requires no little close study into the records covering an intricate field, and many marks unattributed to any special place are believed to be Scottish in origin.

Of the Scottish silver-plate, illustrated in this chapter, it may be said that, whenever possible, details are given of the peculiarities of marking to enable the student to familiarize himself with the differences in comparison with English silver. The assay master’s initials, the maker’s initials, and the date letter are an array of letters possibly puzzling to the beginner.

The quaich (illustrated p. 313) was made at Edinburgh in 1705. The maker was Robert Inglis, and the assay master, James Penman. The marks are illustrated p. 405. These old vessels were used for drinking spirits, and the two handles denote that, like the English loving-cup, they were passed around. They are not used over this side of the border. They are sometimes made of hard dark wood, and possibly their origin may be traced to Scandinavian forms. The Dutch have similar vessels. In the Willet-Holthuysen Museum at Amsterdam there is a silver brandy- or loving-cup with ears in form like the Scottish quaich or quaigh. This is of the first half of the seventeenth century. It measures 9 centimetres in height by 11 centimetres in width. The side of the cup is divided into six embossed parts, each encircling an engraved medallion of four symbolic figures—Faith, Justice, Science, and Labour. All these are surrounded by medallions in Renaissance style: the well-known conventional dragons, garlands of flowers, and cherubs’ heads. The handles are also ornamented. “It is a truly Dutch sweetly pretty little thing,” says Frans Coenen, the curator, the author of a brochure on the collection, “and seems to have been made on purpose to be held by a strong, powerful fist at the festive board. And festive boards were of frequency in the days of the Great Republic, when the merry cup went round with snapdragon, or even brandy pure and undiluted, as a kind of English loving-cup. And the ladies partook as well as the gentlemen. Neither did they refuse the weed which cheers but not inebriates.” The author laments that this form has disappeared from use in Holland. “In course of time,” he says, “bitters and gin took the place of brandy, and the pretty vessel degenerated into a characterless bottle or jug, which in its turn was replaced by the teapot.”

The quaich illustrated, in date 1705, exhibits the purity of design of the early years of the eighteenth century. It belongs to the year prior to the appointment of a commission to arrange the terms of union between England and Scotland. In 1707 this was legally effected. The United Kingdom was to be called Great Britain. There was to be one Parliament for the United Kingdom, in which Scotland was to be represented by forty-five members in the Commons and sixteen peers in the Upper House. The Union Jack was to be the flag of Great Britain.

The cup with the flat handle, or “lug” as it is termed in Scotland, level with the brim, was sometimes of more ornamental form, with six spheroidal sides, and the handles were chased. There is also the “bleeding-cup” used by barber-surgeons so freely in the late seventeenth and eighteenth century. There is a specimen of this class of silver vessel, diminutive in character, at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The marks for the year 1698 are taken from this bowl (see p. 373).

A quaich made by Thomas Moncur at Glasgow in 1665 sold in 1909 for £408, at 560s. per oz.

On the same page as the quaich is illustrated a mug, in date 1790. It is the other end of the century from the simple quaich. It marks the beginning of decadent styles; the overloaded ornament, the want of subtle suggestiveness in the design, shows that the nineteenth century was at hand. It has an interest as being contemporary with Robert Burns. Tam O’Shanter was written in this year.

To this year belongs Burke’s Reflections on the French Revolution, which work had a great influence in turning English opinion against the revolutionists. Many replies were published to refute Burke, the most important being the Rights of Man by Thomas Paine.

The sugar-caster (illustrated p. 317) belongs to the George II epoch of silver. Evidently the rich and varied styles extended to Scotland. The same impulses influenced both nations before the union; in date this is 1746. This is marked with the maker’s initials, E. O., and the assay master’s initials, H. G. (Hugh Gordon); there is, in addition, the mark of the castle and the date letter R. The baluster ornament is in almost acorn form. The top with its perforated design is always a pleasing feature in casters. The floriated ornament in this example is of fine character.

The year 1746 is a notable one in Scottish history. In 1745 the Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart, dear to memory in Scotland, landed. “Charlie is my darlin’” was a forbidden tune at Balmoral as late as the reign of Victoria. The entry of the Prince into Edinburgh in 1745 resulted in the defeat of Sir John Cope, and the victorious army invaded England and reached Derby.

The year 1746 saw the Battle of Culloden and the defeat of the Pretender. Here is a caster of these romantic days, days that find expression in various romances—romances that are true to the life. Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, was beheaded on Tower Hill for his duplicity. Many great Scottish families tried to sit on both sides of the fence. One son went to the Hanoverian forces and the other to the Stuart invader. Robert Louis Stevenson’s Master of Ballantrae shows the poignancy of the situation. But England held aloof in 1745. In 1715, when the elder Pretender essayed to claim his own, England was lukewarm, but in 1745 the House of Hanover had become deeply rooted and no leniency was shown to the invaders.

The Edinburgh coffee-pot (illustrated p. 321), in date 1769, is a delightful piece. It was made by Patrick Robertson; the marks are illustrated p. 405. This was in the early George III period. In this year was published the first of the “Letters of Junius,” an acrid attack on the Government in the Public Advertiser on behalf of John Wilkes, the demagogue. This year saw the birth of English Radicalism. Wilkes was elected as member for Middlesex for the fourth time, but Parliament declared his opponent, Colonel Luttrell, at the bottom of the poll, to be elected. The meaning of the motto “Wilkes and Liberty” is thus understood.

This coffee-pot of those days claims recognition by reason of its beauty of form. The spout with dragon head is graceful and original. The handle, in ebony, follows the broken curves of the period, the cone-top and the somewhat elongated foot and narrow base to the body proclaim the contemporary style.

The tea-urn of 1778 (illustrated p. 325), also made by Patrick Robertson, is marked with the castle of Edinburgh, the Thistle standard mark, the date letter Z, and the maker’s initials P. R. It is a beautiful piece in classic style, with fluted oviform body; it is decorated at summit and base with acanthus ornament. It has flat scroll handles with delicate beaded ornament. On tall fluted foot with bold spreading terminals, it stands on square base decorated with classic chasing. It is as classic as Princes Street, Edinburgh. It is delightfully Scottish, and represents the northern Athens as exemplified in the minor art of the silversmith. It is just prior to the days of Sir Walter Scott, the “Wizard of the North,” who has charmed Scot and southron alike by his magic spell.

This is a very meagre exposition of the art of the silversmith in Scotland, but space does not permit of further details in a volume of this size. In the examination of Scottish silver one is confronted with so much that is excellent. The subject is like Scottish poetry; one turns to the anthology of Sir George Douglas and one finds a race of nightingales.