Lot Essay
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 withall 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 da
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 actio
Call to mynde time past time p'sent time to cume
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 bountifull
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 following article first appeared in Burlington Magazine, June 1969, and is reproduced with kind permission of the editor and author:
SOME LIGHT ON A COMMONWEALTH SILVER TANKARD
By Judith Banister
In English Goldsmiths & Thier Marks, p. 288, Sir Charles Jackson took the marks for York, 1649/1650, from a tankard by James Plummer which he stated was 'from the Franks family of Beverley'. In so extensive a work, Jackson could not have hoped to verify for himself every mark and detail so that, as will be seen, errors crept in. Nor does the bald description 'tankard' by any means suggest the tremendous intrinsic interest of the piece. Its importance lies not only in its rarity and its marks but in its charming inscriptions and its history.
The tankard (Figs. 42-46) is one of those rare survivals of the Commonwealth period, of plain drum form with skirt foot, bold scroll handle, and flat cap cover with a cast double-cork-screw thumbpiece. It stands 5-1/4 in. (13.3 cm.) high to the top of the cover, 6 in. (15 cm.) overall, and is 5 in. (13 cm.) in diameter at the base. It weighs a sturdy 16 oz. 16 dwt., a normal weight for a tankard of that size, and a good one for a Commonwealth tankard when much silver was somewhat flimsy. It is fully marked on the base and, instead of across the top, on the underside of the cover - a rare instance of marks being placed apparently to avoid marring the overall matted decoration. The York mark takes the form of half fleur-de-lys and half seeded rose corwned, which was used form 1632 until 1698. the date letter is a small itlaic long S, somewhat worn on the base, but inside the cover very clearly struck, showing rather less of a tail than is illustrated in Jackson. The maker's mark, IP in a shaped punck, is that of James Plummer, the forerummer of a long line of York goldsmiths. He was the son of Michael Plummer, a tailor, and was admitted Freeman of the York Craft of Goldsmiths in 1619. He had two sons who were goldsmith in 1648-9, and whose mark is IP in a rose-like outline, and Michael, admitted in 1659. A Richard Plummer and a Timothy Plummer are also recorded. James died in 1663, and was buried in St. Michael, Coney Street, York, on 3rd June.
Presentation inscriptions, Laten tags and pious utterances were not uncommon on beakers, tankards and porringers of the seventeenth century, but the series of verses and admonitions on the York tankard are unparalleled in English silver. Around the lip are engraved three na/Ui/uve little verses in contemporary script within simple scroll cartouches. The skirt foot is nore soberly engraved, again with three quatrains, but unrhymed.
The body of the tankard below the panel of verses is matted and this encloses at intervals four small oval medallions engraved with the Temptation and with the three Theological Virtues. These, and also the topmost border of verses, show traces of former gilding. In the centre of the front stand Adam and eve below the Tree around which is entwined the Snake. In her hand Eve holds an apple. To the right is faith, holding Cross and Book, with the motto 'be faithfull till death'. Below the handle is Hope, with a Dove and an anchor, surrounded by 'hope well, have well', while the third medallion shows Charity, caring for two children, with the inscription 'given the poor sent the lord'.
Even the rim of the cover has its admonition: 'when this yow se remember me. whome God joynes together Let no man separate'. Between is a symbol, in the style of a Merchant's mark, and at the end is a heart between clasped hands, in the manner of contemporary posy rings. The centre of the cover is engraved with a circular medallion enclosing a merchant's mark in another form, the date 1558, and Ist. Eliz. On the handle are the initials F over IM.
The verses and sermonizings certainly suggest a marriage gift, and there is little doubt that the marriage was that of John Frank to Mary Harbred in 1659. After Jackson had recorded the tankard still in the family after some two centuries, it was acquired by Sydney Loder, and was sold at Sotheby's when his collection was dispersed in June 1931. It reappeared in the london salerooms in the Makower collection, sold by Sotheby's just thirty years later, in 1961, and has since then been one of the highlights of a large private collection.
Jackson's placing of the Franks family in Beverley proved misleading, but the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research at the University of York were able to identify the family as that of Frank of Pontefract. John Frank, Gentleman, and at his death left extensive estates in Pontefract, Barrington (a little to the south-east of the town), Purston (to the west), Carlton (eastwards, towards Goole) and Tanshelf. His wife Mary, whom he married at Featherstone, near Pontefract, on 5th April 1659, was daughter and co-heir of william Harbred of Wistow. They had several children, including the heir, robert, who was admitted Grays Inn in May 1678 and became an M.P. and Recorder of Pontefract, two other sons, Edward and Richard, and a daughter, Dorothy. John Frank died in 1697, and his will was proved at York on 6th February 1698.
The fanily continued to play an important part in local history throughout the eighteenth century. The family seat was at Campsall, some seven miles south of Pontefract, and there in 1936 were still housed the unpublished papers of Richard Frank, F>R>S> (1702 to 1762), also a Recorder of Pontefract and of Doncaster, and those of his relation by marriage, Dr. Nathaniel Johnston, who collected quantities of material concerning the histiry of Yorkshire. He died in 1705.
The identification of the initials I and M below F for John and Mary Frank next poses the question of how the tankard came to be so decorated and of what significance is the medallion on the cover. there is some sign that the verses were applied after the remainder of the tankard had been decorated with the fine matting that covers the body and cover, th4e engraver having had to rub down the shallow chasing done, possibly, some ten years earlier. It is impossible nwow to determine whether John gave the tankard to Mary--it is small, and therefore not out of the way for a woman in an age predating tea and coffee--or whether it was the bride's present to the groom, which is perhaps more feasible, when considering the verses: 'the gift is small, the giver not tall' and the references to authority and justice.
The date 1558 and !st Eliz, with the merchant's mark--by the mid-seventheenth century a very old-fashioned device--has as yet an uncertain significance. It may be that the tankard was made from an old piece of plate, perhaps of Elizabethan date--the family may have had a tradition of a piece of silver made then, and perhaps it bore a similar merchant's mark. the use of old plate for the new tankard in 1649 may have helped to account for its sturdiness at a time when the metal was very scarce.
On the other hand, the royal reference may have had a political meaning. York and the Ridings had been in the hub of activity during the recent Civil War, and though Yotk finally surrendered to the Roundheads in 1644, many Yorkshiremen remained loyal to the King. Shortly before the tankard was made, Charles I was beheaded, on 30th January 1649. the mark of an ancestor, perhaps one in the wool trade who had made the furtune that permitted John Frank to call himself Gentleman, along with the date of the Queen's accession might seem innocuous enough, but might well remind those who mourned the King that England would again be as great under a monarch as she was under the great Queen Bess. We shall probably never know.
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 withall 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 da
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 actio
Call to mynde time past time p'sent time to cume
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 bountifull
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 following article first appeared in Burlington Magazine, June 1969, and is reproduced with kind permission of the editor and author:
SOME LIGHT ON A COMMONWEALTH SILVER TANKARD
By Judith Banister
In English Goldsmiths & Thier Marks, p. 288, Sir Charles Jackson took the marks for York, 1649/1650, from a tankard by James Plummer which he stated was 'from the Franks family of Beverley'. In so extensive a work, Jackson could not have hoped to verify for himself every mark and detail so that, as will be seen, errors crept in. Nor does the bald description 'tankard' by any means suggest the tremendous intrinsic interest of the piece. Its importance lies not only in its rarity and its marks but in its charming inscriptions and its history.
The tankard (Figs. 42-46) is one of those rare survivals of the Commonwealth period, of plain drum form with skirt foot, bold scroll handle, and flat cap cover with a cast double-cork-screw thumbpiece. It stands 5-1/4 in. (13.3 cm.) high to the top of the cover, 6 in. (15 cm.) overall, and is 5 in. (13 cm.) in diameter at the base. It weighs a sturdy 16 oz. 16 dwt., a normal weight for a tankard of that size, and a good one for a Commonwealth tankard when much silver was somewhat flimsy. It is fully marked on the base and, instead of across the top, on the underside of the cover - a rare instance of marks being placed apparently to avoid marring the overall matted decoration. The York mark takes the form of half fleur-de-lys and half seeded rose corwned, which was used form 1632 until 1698. the date letter is a small itlaic long S, somewhat worn on the base, but inside the cover very clearly struck, showing rather less of a tail than is illustrated in Jackson. The maker's mark, IP in a shaped punck, is that of James Plummer, the forerummer of a long line of York goldsmiths. He was the son of Michael Plummer, a tailor, and was admitted Freeman of the York Craft of Goldsmiths in 1619. He had two sons who were goldsmith in 1648-9, and whose mark is IP in a rose-like outline, and Michael, admitted in 1659. A Richard Plummer and a Timothy Plummer are also recorded. James died in 1663, and was buried in St. Michael, Coney Street, York, on 3rd June.
Presentation inscriptions, Laten tags and pious utterances were not uncommon on beakers, tankards and porringers of the seventeenth century, but the series of verses and admonitions on the York tankard are unparalleled in English silver. Around the lip are engraved three na/Ui/uve little verses in contemporary script within simple scroll cartouches. The skirt foot is nore soberly engraved, again with three quatrains, but unrhymed.
The body of the tankard below the panel of verses is matted and this encloses at intervals four small oval medallions engraved with the Temptation and with the three Theological Virtues. These, and also the topmost border of verses, show traces of former gilding. In the centre of the front stand Adam and eve below the Tree around which is entwined the Snake. In her hand Eve holds an apple. To the right is faith, holding Cross and Book, with the motto 'be faithfull till death'. Below the handle is Hope, with a Dove and an anchor, surrounded by 'hope well, have well', while the third medallion shows Charity, caring for two children, with the inscription 'given the poor sent the lord'.
Even the rim of the cover has its admonition: 'when this yow se remember me. whome God joynes together Let no man separate'. Between is a symbol, in the style of a Merchant's mark, and at the end is a heart between clasped hands, in the manner of contemporary posy rings. The centre of the cover is engraved with a circular medallion enclosing a merchant's mark in another form, the date 1558, and Ist. Eliz. On the handle are the initials F over IM.
The verses and sermonizings certainly suggest a marriage gift, and there is little doubt that the marriage was that of John Frank to Mary Harbred in 1659. After Jackson had recorded the tankard still in the family after some two centuries, it was acquired by Sydney Loder, and was sold at Sotheby's when his collection was dispersed in June 1931. It reappeared in the london salerooms in the Makower collection, sold by Sotheby's just thirty years later, in 1961, and has since then been one of the highlights of a large private collection.
Jackson's placing of the Franks family in Beverley proved misleading, but the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research at the University of York were able to identify the family as that of Frank of Pontefract. John Frank, Gentleman, and at his death left extensive estates in Pontefract, Barrington (a little to the south-east of the town), Purston (to the west), Carlton (eastwards, towards Goole) and Tanshelf. His wife Mary, whom he married at Featherstone, near Pontefract, on 5th April 1659, was daughter and co-heir of william Harbred of Wistow. They had several children, including the heir, robert, who was admitted Grays Inn in May 1678 and became an M.P. and Recorder of Pontefract, two other sons, Edward and Richard, and a daughter, Dorothy. John Frank died in 1697, and his will was proved at York on 6th February 1698.
The fanily continued to play an important part in local history throughout the eighteenth century. The family seat was at Campsall, some seven miles south of Pontefract, and there in 1936 were still housed the unpublished papers of Richard Frank, F>R>S> (1702 to 1762), also a Recorder of Pontefract and of Doncaster, and those of his relation by marriage, Dr. Nathaniel Johnston, who collected quantities of material concerning the histiry of Yorkshire. He died in 1705.
The identification of the initials I and M below F for John and Mary Frank next poses the question of how the tankard came to be so decorated and of what significance is the medallion on the cover. there is some sign that the verses were applied after the remainder of the tankard had been decorated with the fine matting that covers the body and cover, th4e engraver having had to rub down the shallow chasing done, possibly, some ten years earlier. It is impossible nwow to determine whether John gave the tankard to Mary--it is small, and therefore not out of the way for a woman in an age predating tea and coffee--or whether it was the bride's present to the groom, which is perhaps more feasible, when considering the verses: 'the gift is small, the giver not tall' and the references to authority and justice.
The date 1558 and !st Eliz, with the merchant's mark--by the mid-seventheenth century a very old-fashioned device--has as yet an uncertain significance. It may be that the tankard was made from an old piece of plate, perhaps of Elizabethan date--the family may have had a tradition of a piece of silver made then, and perhaps it bore a similar merchant's mark. the use of old plate for the new tankard in 1649 may have helped to account for its sturdiness at a time when the metal was very scarce.
On the other hand, the royal reference may have had a political meaning. York and the Ridings had been in the hub of activity during the recent Civil War, and though Yotk finally surrendered to the Roundheads in 1644, many Yorkshiremen remained loyal to the King. Shortly before the tankard was made, Charles I was beheaded, on 30th January 1649. the mark of an ancestor, perhaps one in the wool trade who had made the furtune that permitted John Frank to call himself Gentleman, along with the date of the Queen's accession might seem innocuous enough, but might well remind those who mourned the King that England would again be as great under a monarch as she was under the great Queen Bess. We shall probably never know.