Object Description
A fine antique silver porringer with bands of ribbing to the lower body and a broad rope twist band above. Britannia standard silver*. Good size. Hand engraved to the front within an expansive embossed cartouche, typical of the Queen Anne period, is an armorial crest of a lion. Excellent patina.
Weight 436 grams, 14 troy ounces.
Height 13.8cm. Diameter 13cm. Spread 20.5 cm.
London 1717.
Maker Thomas Parr.
Marks. Stamped below the rim 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.
THOMAS PARR
Thomas Parr, London silversmith, apprenticed to Simon Noy 1687, free 1694. Livery 1712. 1st mark entered as largeworker undated, probably 1697. 2nd mark 1717. Died c.1728 when his widow Sarah entered her own mark.