Object Description
A charming little early English silver mug of plain form. Charming small size and suitable for a child/christening mug. The body is raised from sheet and has a simple strap handle and an incised, reeded neck. This is the earliest type of mug. Engraved to the underside are owner’s initials and the date “1695”.
Contains 140 ml.
Weight 60 grams, 1.9 troy ounces.
Height 6.5cm, 7cm to top of handle. Diameter 5cm.
Mark “I.C” in a shield with a pellet below. Possibly John Cory.
London 1694.
Sterling silver.
Marks. Stamped on the underside with a full set of English silver hallmarks.
Signed/Inscribed: *It is unusual to have a maker’s name for a piece of silver of this early date as there are no precise records of silver makers’ marks prior to 1697. All records were destroyed in the fire at Goldsmiths Hall in 1681. From 1697 onwards Goldsmiths Hall has preserved a complete record of workmen’s marks, addresses, together with their names and the dates. Sometimes the details of makers can be discovered from old records such as the inventories of noble houses and other institutions. The first surviving record at Goldsmiths Hall is the 1682 copper plate made to start the recording process again. A recent study by Dr David Mitchell, supported by Goldsmiths Hall, resulted in the publication of his 2017 “Silversmiths in Elizabethan and Stuart London” which identifies previously unknown makers marks and assigns marks struck on existing plate to individuals (attributions for 540 separate marks).
JOHN CORY
John Cory, son of Thomas Cory, London and Warminster goldsmith and plateworker. John, free by patrimony 1687, inherited his father’s business in 1689 in partnership with his mother, for a period of 6 years. Livery c. 1690. Britannia Standard mark 1697. John bound 2 apprentices in 1692 and 1694, George Reeve and John Sherley; a third William Hinton was turned over to him 1692.
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