IRISH SILVER

There is no doubt that the art of the goldsmith and silversmith was practised at a very early period in Ireland, as the various ornaments discovered in excavation clearly prove. There is something characteristic in this early Irish metal work, as especially noteworthy in its ripe and accomplished art as is the illumination in the Book of Kells. Old records show that goldsmiths were working in Dublin in the thirteenth century, though there is no mention of the actual formation of a guild or company till 1498. Apparently these early records do not determine what marks were in use. It is not till 1605 that mention is made of a maker’s mark and a town mark on Dublin plate. In 1637 a charter was granted to the goldsmiths of Dublin by Charles I, and it was laid down that no gold or silver was to be of less fineness than the standard of England. From 1638 onwards there appears to have been a date letter, though in some cases its use was erratic, the same stamp being used for succeeding years.

In 1729 the Irish Parliament enacted that plate should be assayed by the assay master and bear the maker’s stamp, the harp crowned, and the date letter. In 1730, by the order of the Commissioners of Excise, a fourth stamp was added, the figure of Hibernia, to denote that the duty had been paid. In 1807 the sovereign’s head was ordered to be placed on all plate as a duty mark, and the figure of Hibernia was allowed to remain, so that till 1890, when the duty was taken off silver, the two duty marks ran together. But Hibernia may be regarded as a hall-mark, though that was not its original purpose.

The city of Cork never had a date letter. Prior to 1715 the city arms, a ship in full sail between two castles, was used together with the maker’s mark, which latter embodied some heraldic device. Later the only mark used at Cork was the maker’s initials and the word Sterling, or the word Dollar; this took the place of the town mark. The official guide to the Irish metal work at the Dublin Museum, to which we are indebted for much information, states that “Immense quantities of silver were manufactured in Cork during the eighteenth century, but comparatively little remains at the present day, most of it having been melted down as the fashions changed.”

The word “dollar” alludes to the silver that was used for plate, much of it being obtained from Spanish dollars. This is parallel to the usage on the coinage. The word “Portobello” is found on English silver coined about the year 1739 from silver taken at Portobello by Admiral Vernon; and the word “Lima” on George II gold coins, signifying that they were from bullion captured from the Spaniards at that place. Anne’s guineas, of 1703, have the word “Vigo,” relating to Sir George Rooke’s captures. At the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century, silver coins were so scarce that Spanish dollars were made legal tender with the head of George III stamped on them.

In the early nineteenth century the Dublin marks appear added to the Cork mark Sterling. The following are among some of the Cork marks found: Sterling and maker’s mark, C. T. (Carden Terry) about 1780. Sterling and maker’s mark

CT
IW

(Carden Terry and John Williams), about 1800.

And there is Robert Goble, 1694, a piece of whose delightful work we illustrate with marks; the Cork mace at the Victoria and Albert Museum, a specimen of beautiful craftsmanship, is marked with the Cork castle and ship, and the letters R. G. There is also Jonathan Buck, 1764, and a fine cream-jug of his superb work is illustrated (p. 339).

Besides Dublin and Cork there were other places at which silver was assayed and marked: at Limerick, in the seventeenth century, with the mark of the fleur-de-lis; Youghal in the seventeenth century, with the town mark of a single-masted ship. In 1783 a small village near Waterford, termed New Geneva, owing to a company of Geneva watch-makers having settled there, had an assay office for a few years, mainly for watch-cases. The harp was used in their mark. Clonmel, Waterford, Mullinger, Kinsale, Kilkenny, and Drogheda all made plate which was assayed at Dublin.

The oldest piece of Irish hall-marked plate now existing is a flagon in Trinity College, Dublin, bearing the Dublin hall-mark for 1638.

The caster (illustrated p. 331) is in date 1699, and bears the Dublin hall-marks for that year and the maker’s initials G. L. (George Lyng). Marks illustrated page 409. This example is interesting as showing the type of art existing contemporary with English work. The grace and elegance of this caster stamp it as being the work of a practised artist, and though doubtless English fashions did affect the class of articles made, the native skill in the subtle use of ornament and the perfection of symmetry was in strong evidence across the Irish Channel.

A loving-cup with two handles, in harp form, was made by Robert Goble, of Cork, about 1694, (illustrated p. 331). These cups are peculiarly Irish and were made nowhere else, except when the English silversmith or the Sheffield plateworker copied them. The harp to this day has remained symbolic of Erin, and Beleek teacups of delicate egg-shell porcelain sometimes have a harp handle.

Throughout the eighteenth century a great number of these two-handled harp cups were made. They have a fine bold form and evidently fulfil the object for which they were made. The marks as shown in the specimen illustrated are usually at the top of the body near the rim.

In the year 1740, when Frederick of Prussia seized the rich country of Silesia, young Oliver Goldsmith sat at the feet of his schoolmaster, that old soldier of fortune, Thomas Byrne, who had served with our army in Spain. He listened to “the exploits of Peterborough and Stanhope, the surprise of Monjuich, and the glorious disaster of Brihuega,” and he lent an ear to the stories of “the great Rapparee chiefs, Baldearg O’Donnell and galloping Hogan.” At fifteen he entered Trinity College, Dublin, as a poor scholar. To-day he rests on College Green, one of Ireland’s proud monuments. At this date the silversmith was doing great things; the Metropolitan Museum at New York has a fine centre-piece of these far-off days. It will be seen in the illustration (p. 335) to what refinement the art of the Dublin silversmith had attained. The maker is Robert Calderwood, and in such a specimen claims recognition for craftsmanship of a very high order. His mark is R. C. with a small crown between the letters, and his work is always prized by collectors.

A cream-jug, made by John Hamilton, of Dublin about the same date (illustrated p. 339), may be compared, to the advantage of the Irish craftsmen, with work of the same period wrought in England or Scotland. There is a suggestion in the handle of the old harp design of the loving-cup, but the rich chasing and exquisite ornamentation of the body exhibit the finest touches of the silversmith’s art.

On the same page a fine cream-jug made by Jonathan Buck of Cork, in 1764, is illustrated, and the marks are given on page 409. It is minutely signed in full under the lip, “Jonathan Buck, 1764.” The mark has a buck in a shield. The handle in this piece still lovingly adheres to the harp form, delightfully adapted to this graceful vessel. We may conjecture that this was a wedding gift to some bride, as the figures of the goddess Venus and Cupid are in fine relief. Such an example is unique with its elaborate chased and repoussÉ work.

The cream-pail (illustrated p. 343) is of Dublin make, about 1770. There is strong classic influence. The drapery, the medallion rosette, and the key pattern of the incised work, all tell of the prevailing fashion. It is as classic as the doorways on the Quays at Dublin. But there is a robustness in Irish classicism which establishes it as something not merely copied as a prevailing fashion but embodied in the handiwork of the craftsman. Perhaps the Latinity of the old faith imparted a cosmopolitan kinship to the metal-workers and carvers and art craftsmen of Ireland. They always realized to the full continental fashions when the wave of importation reached their shores. The delights of Gallic or Italian artists became at once acclimatized.

The potato ring or dish stand is a form of Irish silver not made elsewhere. They were rings of metal upon which old Oriental bowls were placed to prevent the hot vessel injuring the polished surface of the mahogany table. They were possibly used later to support wooden bowls for holding potatoes. Genuine Irish examples are always circular. They belong to the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Bowl and dish were synonymous terms in those days, hence they are sometimes called “Dish Rings.” There are three types: (1) The plain pierced. (2) Pierced work, ornamented with flowers and birds and pastoral scenes. (3) Basket work formed of round wire twisted, or flat square wire strips interlaced.

On the cover of this volume is illustrated an example of a typical Irish dish ring, kindly lent by Messrs. Carrington & Co. [Transcriber's Note: This illustration did not appear on the cover of this edition.] This is in date about 1760, the last year of the reign of George II. The maker is Robert Calderwood. It is representative of the pierced type, having exquisite chased work with birds and flowers. Such pieces are only found, as a rule, in well-known private collections or on the shelves of museum cases. The year before it was fashioned in Dublin, General Wolfe had captured Quebec, and in September 1760 Montreal had capitulated, completing the conquest of Canada.

The following Makers’ Marks will be of interest to those possessing old Irish silver as of use in determining dates of Dublin silver; and specimens bearing these initials are to be seen in the Dublin Museum:—

1655, D. B. (Daniel Bellingham); 1657, I. S. (John Slicer); 1680, W. L. (Walter Lewis); 1715, J. T. (John Tuite); 1716, J. W. (Joseph Walker); 1717, I. H. (John Hamilton); 1724, M. W. (Matthew Walker); 1725, I. S. (John Sterne); 1743, R. H. (Robert Holmes); 1748, W. W. (William Williamson); 1748, W. K. (William Knox); 1750, C. S. (Christopher Skinner); 1760, G. B. (George Beere); 1763, I. L. (John Laughlin); 1765, S. W. (Stephen Walsh); 1765, W. T. (W. Townshend); 1770, D. K. (Darby Kehoe); 1771, C. H. (Capel Harrison); 1772, T. L. (Thomas Lilly); 1773, C. T. (Charles Townshend); 1775, T. J. (Thomas Jones); 1776, R. W. (Robert Williams); 1780, I. N. (John Nicklin); 1790, W. L. (William Law); 1802, R. B. (Robert Breading); 1819, I. L. B. (James le Bas).

SALE PRICES

POTATO OR DISH RINGS.