Object Description
A charming little antique silver taperstick of plain early design with baluster stem and raised octagonal foot. Cast silver. Britannia standard silver*. Hand engraved on the foot is a lion crest.
Weight 127 grams, 4.1 troy ounces.
Height 11.8cm. Base diameter 7.7cm.
London 1707.
Maker Thomas Merry.
Marks. Stamped underneath with a full set of English silver hallmarks.
*Britannia Standard. In 1696, so extensive had become the melting and clipping of coinage that the silversmiths were forbidden to use the sterling standard for their wares, but had to use a new higher standard, 95.8 per cent. New hallmarks were ordered, “the figure of a woman commonly called Britannia” and the lion’s head erased (torn off at the neck) replacing the lion passant and the leopard’s head crowned. This continued until the old standard of 92.5 per cent was restored in 1720. Britannia standard silver still continues to be produced even today.
Maker: Thomas Merry
Thomas Merry I, apprenticed to Henry Grant in 1693, turned over to John Laughton, a specialist candlestick maker in 1695, free 1701. Mark entered in 1701 as smallworker. Married 1699.
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