Plate

Date1695-1715

Maker John Shorey I

MediumPewter

DimensionsDiam. 9".

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1977-221

DescriptionPlateLabel TextJohn Shorey I, who entered his first touch mark in 1683, developed by the early eighteenth century a large and thriving business. Shop records dating from 1708 to 1720 attest to this. He particularly specialized in production of a broad range of plates and dishes. His year-end inventory of finished goods in 1716, for instance, amounted to six tons six and a half hundred weight. Included were two hundred and three dozen of hard metal plates, eighty-eight dozen of ordinary wrought plates, and two hundred and fifty-eight dozen of "ruff" ordinary plates.

Even though plates with gadrooned borders were occasionally made throughout the eighteenth century, early examples are particularly rare. The gadroons on this plate are part of the casting, while those on later fancy-rim plates (1984-276) are invariably applied.
Inscription(s)Owners' initials "B/TC" stamped on underside of well.Mark(s)Touch mark a bird facing left and standing on a rose with "IOHN SHOREY" in a curved reserve above and with a palm frond to either side and crossing below within a vertical oval on underside of well (Cotterell 4263). Secondary marks (1) a rose with crown above with "LONDON" in a curved reserve above and "GOD PROTECT" below (Cotterell 4263), (2) "LONDON" within a rectangle (Cotterell 4263), and (3) "X" crowned, all on underside of well. Pseudo hallmarks (1) lion passant within a serrated rectangle, (2) cockerel within a shaped shield, (3) leopard's head crowned within a shaped shield, and (4) "JS" in script within a shaped shield, all on underside of well (Cotterell 4263).ProvenanceKenneth W. Bradshaw, Lincoln, England (sold by him and purchased by Colonial Williamsburg at Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co., London, June 13, 1977).