SALISBURY SILVER & ITS MAKERS 1550-1700 by Timothy A Kent
If you have an interest in early silver spoons, in particular seal top spoons, then this book is a must for you.
Salisbury made silver is one of the more common of the seven provincial silver centres authorised to assay silver in the Act of 1423. It also plays a particularly important role in the manufacture of terminals for 17th century seal top spoons. Kent has established that two types of casting were widely used by spoon makers in Salisbury and the surrounding region thereby establishing that the finials were bought-in from a specialist workshop.
The book begins with a detailed account of Salisbury's ecclesiastical history and the evidence of magnificent church plate prior to the reformation during the reign of Henry VIII. The golden age of Salisbury made silver was during the reign of Elizabeth I and into the 17th Century and these periods are discussed at length.
Part II of the book describes how and when searches were undertaken by wardens of the London Goldsmiths Company to maintain the Sterling standard in silver produced. Ten pages of the book are devoted to the biographies and marks of the silversmiths working in Salisbury during the period 1600-40.
Part III discusses the post civil war to 1700 period with further biographies, maker's marks and searches.
A thoroughly researched subject which has been interestingly portrayed.
Rating ****
Paperback
63 pages 205 x 270mm
Published: 1993
Publisher: The Silver Society
PURCHASE PRICE: £26 (new copy) + £1.25 P&P (UK) or £5 shipping (international)
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