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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: PER-PIG |
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PEWTER , a general name used to denote a number of alloys of various metals in diverse proportions, the sole common feature of which lies in the fact that tin is always the chief
chief
when making dishes and porringers 10 parts of lead to 90 of tin for salt-cellars and ewers; those of Limoges
In England the earliest known ordinances for the regulation of the craft were drawn
formula
secret , to which was presumably due the universal recognition of the superiority of the island wares which is so notable a fact in the history of pewter. It was known as " fyne peauter " and used for dishes, saucers, platters, chargers, and for all " things that they make square," such as cruets, chrismatories, &c., which owing either to the rough usage they would be submitted to, or to the sharpness of their angles, called for greater toughness in the material. The recipe for this alloy as originally propounded was as much brass to the tin " as it wol receiuve of his nature," but the lack of precision in this perhaps rendered it difficult to distinguish accidental variations from deliberate adulteration, and in 14741475 it was resolved that 26 lb of brass must be mixed with every hundredweight of tin. The penalties for infringement of the rules were severe and frequently enforced, but in spite of them alterations and improvements crept in. The chief and perhaps the earliest of these was the addition of a certain proportion of bismuth, or as it was then called " tin glass." When this was first used is not recorded, but by 1561 it was accepted as a matter of course; in 163o a maker " was found in fault for not sufficiently tempering his metal with tin glass "; and in 1653 it was ordered that 3 lb weight of tin glass at least must be mixed with every moo lb of tin. Antimony was subsequently introducedthough there is no mention of it in the records of the Pewterers' Companysometimes alone as in tin and temper (r.6 to 150 parts) and trifle (17 parts to 83 of tin). sometimes with other metals as in hard metal (96 parts of tin, 8 of antimony and 2 of copper), a mixture very closely resembling that still used under the name of " Britannia metal," and in plate pewter (Too parts of tin, 8 of antimony, 4 of copper and 4 of bismuth). The wares were originally fashioned in two ways, by hammering or by casting, and the workers in each were strictly differentiated, the former, who worked in fine pewter, being known as Sadware men, the latter who used " ley " as Hollow-ware men. A third class, known as Triflers, from the alloy they were limited to, probably at first only manufactured such small articles of domestic use or ornament as did not definitely fall under either of the other headings, but from an authorized list
drawn
Pewter first appears in history in 1074, when a synod at Rouen permitted its use as a substitute for gold or silver in church vessels, a concession accepted also at Winchester two years later, again withdrawn in 1175, but once more tacitly adopted some twenty years after. The records of its domestic use commence with the caldrons employed for boiling the meat at the coronation of Edward I. in 1274, though we gather that the trade was even then flourishing in Paris and Bruges, whence during the following century it extended to Augsburg, Nuremberg, Poitiers, Mons and other continental centres. Confined at first to the more wealthy classes, we can trace as time goes on its extension lower and lower in the social scale, until at the end of the 17th century its use was almost universal. Thenceforward its vogue steadily declined. The growing cheapness of glass and chinaware and the invention of more showy metals brought upon it by degrees the fatal stigma of vulgarity, until with very few exceptions its manufacture entirely ceased. Artistically, pewter was at its best when its makers were least conscious of the art revealed in it, thinking more of the durability and appropriateness to purpose of their wares than of their decorative qualities. Though intentionally ornamental vessels may be found earlier, it was not until the 18th century that the pewterers set themselves to slavishly copying the designs and methods of the silversmiths, whether suitable to their material or not, and thereby undoubtedly hastened their own downfall. Of recent
touch -mark seem at all times to have been very generally evaded or ignored, and experience alone is therefore the only safe guide to distinguishing new from old.End of Article: PEWTER If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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