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Lot Essay
The initials on the handle are for John Frank (1633-1697) of Pontefract, Yorkshire and his wife Mary, daughter and co-heir of William Harbred, of Wistow, whom he married at Featherstone, near Pontefract on 5th April 1659.
The inscriptions read:
Around the cover:
When this yow se remember me
whome God Joynes together let no man separate
Around the lip:
A gift I show of what I owe
Accept the gift and so the giver
the gift is small the giver not tall
take here with all the hart and all.
And when in this a health yow drinke
drinke yr. owne and please yr. selfe
thinke on God and praise his name
for this good drinke the giver of the same.
If that yow merriley disposed be
have still mynde the judgement day
then shall we all for Christ deare sake
be blest a sleepe be blest awake.
Around the foot of the tankard:
God instruct direct p'serve prosp: & kepe you
in wisdom, patience, sobrietie thought worde action
Call to mynde time past time p'sent time to cum
turne to God with all your hart like Josias.
Understand, say & do well, be famelier wth them yt feares god
In praising discreet, in saluting curtius, admonish frendly
Forgiving, mercifull, promising, faithfull, recompencing bountifully
do to all men as you would they should do to you.
Endever with Paule a cleare Conscience, cont: dams or save
Rule them under the rather by Love then feare
Sway thy authoritie in equall ballance of Justice
& equitie. Judge as thou would be Judged.
THE SYMBOLISM OF THE ENGRAVING
It is not uncommon to find proverbs, presentation inscriptions or Latin tags engraved on a variety of drinking vessels in the 17th century, however, as Judith Banister commented in her article 'Some Light on a Commonwealth Silver Tankard' published in the Burlington Magazine in 1969, 'the series of verses and admonitions on the York tankard are unparalleled in English silver'. The rhyming inscriptions below the lip of the body note the nature of the gift of the tankard, some physical comments about the donor and some sobering but hopeful observations on death and the Judgement Day. The inscriptions on the foot take a moral and religious tone with instructions for goodly and pious behaviour. The matted body of the tankard is engraved with four oval medallions which depict Temptation and the three Theological Virtues. The central cartouche on the front of the tankard depicts Adam and Eve at the moment of temptation. Eve stands to the left of the tree holding the apple, Adam stands on the right and the serpent encircles the tree. To the right of the central scene is the allegorical figure of Faith, holding a cross and a bible, with the motto 'be faithfull till death'. Below the handle is the figure of Hope, holding a dove and an anchor, with the inscription 'hope well, have well' and to the right of the handle is the figure of Charity, caring for two children with the inscription 'given the poor sent the lord'.
The inscription around the rim of the cover makes clear the purpose of the tankard as a marriage gift, 'when this yow se remember me. whome God joynes together Let no man separate'. The end of this inscription is marked by a heart and clasped hands in the manner of posy rings. The central cartouche on the cover is engraved with a merchant's mark, an old fashion form of ownership mark by the mid 17th century. The mark is accompanied by a curious inscription '1558 / 1st Eliz'. Judith Banister puts forward the theory that the tankard may have been fashioned from an earlier piece of silver which dated from this time, kept as a relic by the family and which was remade to mark the wedding of John and Mary, the date and the merchant's mark being copied onto the present piece. She also suggests a political message may have been intended, the date being a Royalist reference to the great Queen Elizabeth at a time when there was strong Royalist support in Yorkshire and King Charles I had only recently been beheaded. At the time she made this suggestion the tankard was dated 1649, but a subsequent revision of the York date letters now places the tankard in the year 1648, its manufacture predating the king's execution, however, as the Franks married in April 1649 the inscriptions could have been engraved shortly after the king's death.
JAMES PLUMMER
Plummer was admitted Freeman of the York Craft of Goldsmiths in 1619. James' two sons followed him into the trade but his father, Michael Plummer, had been a tailor. The second generation of Plummer silversmiths, John and Michael, were admitted to the Goldsmiths' Company in 1648/9 and 1659 respectively. The Goldsmiths' Company archives also record a Richard Plummer and a Timothy Plummer.
The inscriptions read:
Around the cover:
When this yow se remember me
whome God Joynes together let no man separate
Around the lip:
A gift I show of what I owe
Accept the gift and so the giver
the gift is small the giver not tall
take here with all the hart and all.
And when in this a health yow drinke
drinke yr. owne and please yr. selfe
thinke on God and praise his name
for this good drinke the giver of the same.
If that yow merriley disposed be
have still mynde the judgement day
then shall we all for Christ deare sake
be blest a sleepe be blest awake.
Around the foot of the tankard:
God instruct direct p'serve prosp: & kepe you
in wisdom, patience, sobrietie thought worde action
Call to mynde time past time p'sent time to cum
turne to God with all your hart like Josias.
Understand, say & do well, be famelier wth them yt feares god
In praising discreet, in saluting curtius, admonish frendly
Forgiving, mercifull, promising, faithfull, recompencing bountifully
do to all men as you would they should do to you.
Endever with Paule a cleare Conscience, cont: dams or save
Rule them under the rather by Love then feare
Sway thy authoritie in equall ballance of Justice
& equitie. Judge as thou would be Judged.
THE SYMBOLISM OF THE ENGRAVING
It is not uncommon to find proverbs, presentation inscriptions or Latin tags engraved on a variety of drinking vessels in the 17th century, however, as Judith Banister commented in her article 'Some Light on a Commonwealth Silver Tankard' published in the Burlington Magazine in 1969, 'the series of verses and admonitions on the York tankard are unparalleled in English silver'. The rhyming inscriptions below the lip of the body note the nature of the gift of the tankard, some physical comments about the donor and some sobering but hopeful observations on death and the Judgement Day. The inscriptions on the foot take a moral and religious tone with instructions for goodly and pious behaviour. The matted body of the tankard is engraved with four oval medallions which depict Temptation and the three Theological Virtues. The central cartouche on the front of the tankard depicts Adam and Eve at the moment of temptation. Eve stands to the left of the tree holding the apple, Adam stands on the right and the serpent encircles the tree. To the right of the central scene is the allegorical figure of Faith, holding a cross and a bible, with the motto 'be faithfull till death'. Below the handle is the figure of Hope, holding a dove and an anchor, with the inscription 'hope well, have well' and to the right of the handle is the figure of Charity, caring for two children with the inscription 'given the poor sent the lord'.
The inscription around the rim of the cover makes clear the purpose of the tankard as a marriage gift, 'when this yow se remember me. whome God joynes together Let no man separate'. The end of this inscription is marked by a heart and clasped hands in the manner of posy rings. The central cartouche on the cover is engraved with a merchant's mark, an old fashion form of ownership mark by the mid 17th century. The mark is accompanied by a curious inscription '1558 / 1st Eliz'. Judith Banister puts forward the theory that the tankard may have been fashioned from an earlier piece of silver which dated from this time, kept as a relic by the family and which was remade to mark the wedding of John and Mary, the date and the merchant's mark being copied onto the present piece. She also suggests a political message may have been intended, the date being a Royalist reference to the great Queen Elizabeth at a time when there was strong Royalist support in Yorkshire and King Charles I had only recently been beheaded. At the time she made this suggestion the tankard was dated 1649, but a subsequent revision of the York date letters now places the tankard in the year 1648, its manufacture predating the king's execution, however, as the Franks married in April 1649 the inscriptions could have been engraved shortly after the king's death.
JAMES PLUMMER
Plummer was admitted Freeman of the York Craft of Goldsmiths in 1619. James' two sons followed him into the trade but his father, Michael Plummer, had been a tailor. The second generation of Plummer silversmiths, John and Michael, were admitted to the Goldsmiths' Company in 1648/9 and 1659 respectively. The Goldsmiths' Company archives also record a Richard Plummer and a Timothy Plummer.