ABOUT THE BOOK
In the seventeenth century there was scarcely a household in Britain that did not possess some items of pewter: bowls, plates, spoons, candlesticks, toys and buttons were some of the everyday objects made of this allow of tin. Introduced to Britain by the Romans, the pewter trade became widespread in the middle ages, and English pewter became renowned for its high quality. The trade reached a peak in the seventeenth century. Competion from other materials brought a decline in the eighteenth century and the main center of production moved from London to the Midlands. In the nineteenth century new techniques of manufacture were introduced in Sheffield, now the predominant center of the trade in Britain. This book traces the history of pewter manufacture in Britain, describing the allows used, the methods of working pewter and the objects produced. Reference is also made to the craft in other countries and there is advice for collectors.
* The Worshipful Company of Pewters received a royal charter in 1474, and its inspectors travelled throughout England to enforce high standards of production. As a result of their efforts, English pewter vessels became highly regarded on the continent, being described by an Italian writer as 'as brilliant as silver'.
* Pewter proved to be well suited to the Art Nouveau style of the early twentieth century, and pewterware of the period, especially that commissioned by Liberty's, is much collected.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Charles Hull's ancestors were pewter craftsmen from at least 1451, when they are first mentioned in the records of the Worshipful Company of Pewterers, until the eighteenth century. Mr Hull and his late brother set up a small pewter workshop in Gloucestershire. He is on the Court and a Past Master of the Worshipful Company and is curator of their extensive collection of British pewter. He is joint author of 'Technique of Pewtersmithing' and has written articles on the history of pewter.
