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Lot 407
WILLIAM III SILVER TANKARD maker's mark of crowned initials 'I.H', London 1695, of plain form with reeded borders, volute thumb piece on a double-doomed hinged lid, scroll handle with ivory insulators, handle piece stamped with the maker's mark, the body engraved with heraldic crest, approximately 658g, 16cm high Note: This piece has been altered at a later date. The top rim of the body has been modified to form a lip and the lid has been altered to extern the corresponding rim to cover it. There are no hallmarks present on the lid, which are usually present on tankard of this period. These may have been hammered off in the process of altering the lid. Many tankards of this period feature a single-domed lid with a flat top but double-domed lids are recorded so the shape of this lid is likely original. The handle has likely been cut cleanly in two places and the ivory insulators added at the same time as the alterations were made to the lid and top rim. This is likely to convert it for a new use later in its life, which has been recorded in other examples of this period. It is McTear's view that although alterations have been made to this piece it retains many of its original features and no attempts have been made to strike it with other hallmarks other than the set it originally recieved when it was first made. During the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning for the eighteenth century a silver tankard such as this would have been passed around guests or higher members of the household to drink from, or only for the singular use of the head of the household. Alongside large dishes and candlesticks it would have been one of the main displays of silverware of the wealthy classes during this period. With the rise of the Industrial Revolution and the vast wealth it created among many aristocratic families it changing dining habits, the way wealth was displayed to guests and the quality of new holloware that could be purchased. As the seventeenth century progressed the use of a single silver tankard became obsolete. Still prized as precious pieces of family silver both in terms of physical value, age and ancestral narrative many tankards were converted to be more ergonomically used during this period. This mainly included adding lips (such as on this example) or spouts and also changes to the covers to accommodate the new design. They were then usually used as hot water or sauce jugs to be used alongside the large selection of newly designed holloware of eighteen and nineteenth centuries dining tables, as their shape most closely mirrored these jugs.
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