SUCCESSORS TO A LONG LINE OF PEWTERERS

By John Bank (UK)

John Bank has his own website www.pewterbank.com on which various of these pages will, or do now, appear. The next review will be in Spring 2010 when additions will include articles on repairs, The Historic Moulds, Old (20th century) Pewter Catalogues, Distinguishing the older pieces from the more recent, and some 400 old Punch Marks found at A E Williams. The aim of this website is neither to sell nor to advertise but to encourage novice collectors in collecting and to seek better information elsewhere and especially to enjoy their antique pewter. In Spring 2010 the website should hold the equivalent of 600 pages of information (as measured in A4 sheets) and 1500 photographs. It has currently a bias to British Antique Pewter but is beginning to look at the wider subject.

In mid 2009 I read an article by David Hall past President of the UK Pewter Society, Journal Editor for some ten or more years, and Honorary Member, in the2001 Spring Journal of The (UK) Pewter Society concerning his visit to a Pewtering business by the name of James Smellies of Birmingham UK in 1981. What I could do in 2009, which I would not have done then, is to ‘Google’ the Successors to that business -thought to be a business by the name of - A E Williams of Birmingham UK. I did that and found them. Not only that but I emailed suggesting a visit and received a favourable reply. I thought I had discovered something! They have a long pedigree. A Thomas Williams resident in Bristol/the Welsh Borders worked 1780 -1835 and was succeeded by a long line to today - with David Williams (and brother in law and nephew) Barry Johnson and Stephen Johnson as the senior directors - with a younger Sam Williams (son of David) with the computer skills and responsibility for communicating with folk like myself. Meanwhile, whilst I was awaiting my visit, Sam emailed me detailed information, and to quote sections from Sam Williams emails – We recently produced over 800 items for display at Hampton Court Palace, ranging from plates, chargers, jugs and bowls. We have had good coverage on this so far, ranging from newspapers, magazines and even a proposed radio talk. For the Mary Rose museum, we produced a replica flagon which I attach details of (and are shown later in this article). To see this pewter being made click on this link below. (I would suggest you copy and paste) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVVUGJaK8Bg We also have a Video which is a brilliant tutorial to Pewter making (and it is), as Narrated by David Moulson. This video is also an excellent visual aid for those who may be interested in learning exactly what goes in to Pewtersmithing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVQmjnKLwc4

Their own website which shows the ranges of stunning reproduction pewter that they produce today is at – www.pewtergiftware.com So in reviewing the situation I now found that David Moulson of the UK Pewter Society is like one of the family, he has helped them with videos and taken small (note – small) groups of visitors there in the past. One other member of the UK Pewter Society has also visited. A E Williams occupy a three storey perhaps early Victorian end terraced building near the Bull Ring Centre in Birmingham, surrounded in part by a multi storey car park. A building likely lived in by early owners in a former metalware producing area of the city. They tell me previous occupants have included a soft drinks manufacturer encouraged by the artesian well below the premises. This appears to be a happy working environment with the hands on working involvement of the owners, and the pride of all in the products manufactured. Interestingly Sam Williams of A E Williams also told me We acquired the James Yates Moulds in 1990 - James Yates, previously John Duncombe who traded in Birmingham in 1720 he then moved to Bewdley. The business traded again in Birmingham around 1820. It became Yates, Birch and Spooner then later James Yates. It was acquired by Gaskell and Chambers before the war. They were a large Pewter manufacturer, manufacturing mainly pub measures and optics. It was then purchased by James Smellies who were also Brass stampers. It was then purchased by Buckingham Pewter, - they were in Twickenham. It was then later sold in the early 80s to the Britannia collection in Poole in Dorset. We acquired the full working stock in 1990, including Moulds, punches tools etc. Three of which had to be removed from a case in the British Museum. So I understood that they held the molds of James Yates (c1860) and maybe others earlier. I also thought that it was likely they had the stock of moulds and punches from James Smellies. Let me quote just a little from a fascinating talk/Power Point Presentation David Hall gave to the UK Pewter Society - - (followed by myself - for too long) in October 2009. – At James Smellies

• One of the most interesting things were the two boxes of old punches

• These encapsulated the inheritance of Smellies and before them of Gaskell and

Chambers

• These punches can be used to trace the origins of the Company’s pewter making back to the 17th century

For this article then I intend to look at the interest for me that emerged from my visit as follows –

1) The Punches that they hold as above 2) The moulds that they are the inheritors by acquisition and custodians of pewter history

for – dating from at least 1729.

3) The James Yates Pewter produced in the UK using these historic moulds perhaps up to 1990 and some Sales catalogue information promoting it.

4) A Possibility of Repairs at A E Williams

5) Evidence of a Gaskell (& Chambers) Pewter Museum in Birmingham destroyed in

bombing in 1941. One particular piece they were proud and perhaps some of the moulds detailed here in the background.

6) The skilled reproduction Pewterware that this business the last surviving traditional

pewterers in Birmingham UK and perhaps anywhere else in the UK (as known to me as writer) produce today.

First a little history -

JAMES YATES PEWTER TO 1983

James Yates worked in Birmingham from 1837 to 1891. In early years with or as proprietor of Yates Birch & Spooner absorbing both the Meeson & Grove businesses. He worked on his own account solely from 1860-1882, as James Yates. He was a prolific producer and exporter. (especially to Australia) In 1882 Frederick and Herbert Greenway ran the business until 1899, then forming Yates & Greenway. They sold Yates & Greenway to Cornelius Chambers in 1902. Cornelius Chambers had bought Gaskell to form Gaskell & Chambers in 1892. Gaskell & Chambers were in business until 1983, in Birmingham until 1972. The businesses of Matthews, Nicholls, Mason, and Sanders (London and Birmingham various addresses) all previous to 1910 became part of the Gaskell & Chambers business. The Gaskell & Chambers business had also absorbed the businesses, molds and touches of John Duncombe, Ingram & Hunt, and John Carruthers Crane. James Smellies appear to have owned Gaskell & Chambers from 1972 to 1983. Molds and touch marks that are today safely stored with A E Williams in Birmingham; some of these then originate with James Yates and some of which were in use until at least 1983

and maybe afterwards. They were then purchased by Buckingham Pewter, of Twickenham, and later sold to the Britannia collection in Poole in Dorset. Using the James Yates molds pewter was produced through the 1900s certainly until perhaps the late 1980s. It was in 1990 that A E Williams acquired the molds and punches etc of many of the names mentioned above. Previously in 1967 A E Williams had acquired the stock of the Birmingham business - H Day and in 1977 they acquired the stock of Pearson Page and Jewsbury who appear to have been wholesale merchants, mainly offering brassware but also pewter and with various aging finishes of Pewter on offer from 1920. (None of this need be a concern to the collector of antique early pewter especially if other articles regarding patina and marks are considered; pewter produced in the 1900s can perhaps be identified readily. Any other information that can be added will be welcomed.)

* THE PUNCHES - WORN OUT AND OTHERS

IN TWO BOXES OF OLD PUNCHES. Pewterers Punches of some age are like short old fashioned metal/iron chisels with the sharp end worked to produce the mark. A1 B1 C1 are as appear perhaps where Gaskell & Chambers produced from the James Yates Moulds. D1 and E 1 are worn out Punches of some age A2 B2 C2 D2 E2 and A4 are often quite famous retailers who had their own marks placed on Pewter product. Rows 3 and 4 are likely mostly early 20oth century punch marks. The lower James Yates may be an early one the Dublin mark has been found on early 1900s repro pieces (to be kind). The higher James Yates is likely to be from the 1950s.

A B C D E

Others punches found included – Perhaps Makers – Sam Mason, H Mason, Harry Mason Ltd, Birch & Mason, Masons, C & IS (Crane and John Stinton?), V & W, J Morgan, J Morgan & Co (around a belted skep), Morgan & Gaskell, Sanders & Sons, Anderson Bros Makers Glasgow, H Marsh Manchester, Gaskell & Chambers Solihull (and Birmingham) , Crown then X then G&C Ltd, For Export – Punches in Arabic, Moon over Star said to be Moroccan, Baroda State, New London Conn. USA, L Landau Lucknow, Murray & Co Ltd Lucknow, L & R Murray Dublin, Barton Bangalore, Francisco Candido da Costas - Rio De Janeiro, W G Edmonds & Co Dublin, Hamer & Co Perth, UK perhaps merchants or retailers, - W & T Avery Manchester (also one for Glasgow), Parnall & Sons Bristol, H Pooley & Son Ltd Birmingham, H Marsh Manchester, Bartlett & Son Ltd Bristol, John McGlashan & Co Glasgow, Aquinas Locke, F Whitfield & Co. Various others included –

8 over a Crown over X, HMS Tenby, HMS Endurance, HMS/M Courageous 1971to 1973, Avoirdupois, unusual and unexplained fractions such as 7 over 2, 9 over 4, 10 over 3, 9 over 3, 7 over 4, 10 over 4, 5 over 4, also - an arrow above a letter I, Below are three photos of Punches which were struck on scrap pewter in 1981 for David Hall of the UK Pewter Society visiting J Smellies in Birmingham – and one showing some of those quoted above struck in 2009

*

SECONDLY THEN THE HISTORIC MOLDS HELD AT A E WILLIAMS TODAY The following are various moulds held in their store room today. The Worshipful Company Of Pewterers of London have encouraged A E Williams to make a record of all these moulds which number between 1000 and 1400 moulds in total - or maybe more. A little more encouragement would not be harmful.

A small section of the mould store

John Duncombe Charger Mould made 1729 perhaps by Thomas Roberts

(Brazier)? (dead in 1730) Various John Duncombe Plate Moulds

John Duncombe Plate Mould

Victorian and other Spoon Moulds

James Yates

One Pint Mould

Queen Anne style candlestick part mould

Wavy Edged Plate Top part mould

Haystack Gallon top half mould

Dating these moulds is difficult – A E Williams directors say that – ‘’they are Pewterers not historians’’ - and views so far canvassed vary considerably on such as the Queen Anne Candlestick and the Spoon Molds – but then they would. So the above is simply a sample snapshot of the historic moulds held often with just one of various opinions given.

* Over the years these molds have been used to produce ranges for the makers of Reproduction Pewter – below is shown just one such catalogue - likely produced in the 1970s (it is undated). There are catalogues showing the use of these moulds certainly into the late 1980s. This catalogue is from James Smellies of Birmingham – they made a smaller brochure with more modern type before going out of business in 1983 - so a guess is that this is from the 1970s but of course it may be earlier. There is a later one from the late 1980s and a ‘James Yates’ of Twickenham (certainly after 1983) which is not dissimilar.

*

A E Williams offer a repair service in the UK. Here follows an example of a recent repair and some views expressed about repairs –

Comment - from Sam Williams at A E Williams

We have found that the majority of people just want a simple repair, at the minimum cost. The answer is simple, if you can make it yourself out of raw blocks of metal, you can repair it. As you know we are the only company in the country that alloy our own metals We have had some difficult repairs in the past I can assure you, I remember a particular story my grandmother told me where a man had reversed over a teapot in the road and

squashed it flat, however when picking it up the following Monday from our factory it was restored as if brand new. We have been repairing pewter since 1779.

DROPPED CHARGER – DAMAGED RIM A repair in early October 2009, a typical repair so to speak. The Charger had been dropped onto the floor. Photos show the charger before (2 photos) and after (one photo). The customer did not want any polishing doing or anything fancy just a simple repair, Email from Sam Williams of A E Williams with the following photographs. The UK Pewter Society Database tells us – Russell Laugher whose marks are on this 19” Charger was born in Worcester on 28 Oct 1696 and is recorded buried at the same church St Swithins in Worcester in 1751 but for reasons unknown his will was not proved until 1766. So the repair was likely to one of his plates and picking a point half way through his working life could have been made about 1730?

AFTER REPAIR

19” diameter Charger by Russell Laugher of

Worcester c1730?

* Next then evidence for there being a Gaskell (& Chambers) museum in Birmingham destroyed in bombing in 1941 - and one of the pieces in it (with others in the background). Taken from part of a sales brochure found, (likely dating to the 1950s or afterwards).

Lastly then the areas of today’s expertise of this last remaining known (thus far) of a very long line of Birmingham and UK Pewterers – this following is from their website – (This will all seem very much like an advertisement for the firm of A E Williams – and perhaps it should do as they are exceptional. It should be appreciated that in the UK today they are perhaps uniquely in a position to be able to do this - and as such reproducing here their advertising literature should be perhaps thought of as simply informative…This business employs highly skilled staff who work in a happy and friendly environment with their management all working together and proud of their product. It was a pleasure and privilege to visit them.)

MARY ROSE TANKARD Since 1779 A E Williams have been producing high quality traditional pewterware for a variety of different customers. One of our proudest

products to date is our famous Mary Rose Tankard. The Mary Rose was an English Tudor carrack warship and one of the first to be able to fire a full broadside of cannons. The Mary Rose was well equipped with 78 guns

and was the pride of the English fleet. Built in Portsmouth, England (1509–1510) she was thought to be named after King Henry VIII's sister Mary and the rose, the Tudor

emblem. She was one of the earliest purpose-built warships to serve in the Royal Navy; it is thought that she never served as a merchant ship. She displaced 500 tons (700 tons after 1536), was 38.5 m long and 11.7 m beam and her crew consisted of

200 sailors, 185 soldiers, and 30 gunners. After serving for over thirty years, she sank in the Solent during an engagement with the French fleet on 19 July 1545. The

surviving section of the ship was raised in 1982 and is now on display in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard along with an extensive collection of well preserved artifacts.

Amongst these artifacts was a tankard, touch marked with the initials BWE. From the pictures below taken of the original tankard A E Williams have recreated this artifact

to its original state. This is supplied to the Mary Rose Museum Portsmouth and can be purchased directly from them http://www.maryrose.org/shopping/mreplica.htm

Being established since 1779 Williams have inherited through generations the largest collection of Antique Moulds in the world and the skills to recreate the past for the

modern day. Within the collection many moulds pre-date 1729 but sadly due to their age they have now passed into retirement securing their place in Pewter history.

Illustrations for the following are to be seen on the website for A E Williams at

www.pewtergiftware.com

A E WILLIAMS Celebrates 500 years of Henry VIII’s Accession to the Crown Of England at Hampton Court Palace A E Williams received the honor of producing all the Pewter service ware for the Great Tudor kitchens and King Henry VIII top table at Hampton Court Palace. Being known throughout the world for being those of King Henry VIII. In fact they continued to be used as Royal Court kitchens for two hundred years until 1737, feeding the tables of Tudor, Stuart and Georgian monarchs and their many courtiers…. and for the last five years they have been home to a fascinating research project. The kitchens proving the Ideal home to all the serving dishes, bowls, spoons and drinking jugs that a great hall serving 600 needs. The kitchens complex was a huge production line with raw food entering through the West Front of the palace and coming out at the servery ready for delivery to the Great Hall for consumption, via a huge and skilled production team distributed throughout the fifty-five rooms of the kitchens, covering around 36,000 square feet (3,350 square metres). These special pieces of Pewter can be seen displayed on the Top Table of Hampton Court Palace, polished brightly as to reflect its atmospheric ambience of them just being born. The Holbein Wine Jug gets its origins from an original sketch, by 16th Century artist Hans Holbein, of Thomas Moore’s family. The jug can be seen on the right hand side of the picture, near the window, as shown on the top of the next page. From this single illustration A E Williams have recreated the Wine Jug from Antique Bronze Moulds. This is an extremely unique item and only a few will be reproduced worldwide.

WINE JUGS AS FOR HAMPTON COURT

Robert Hoare, who is a food historian Historic Royal Palaces is accredited with this photograph

TOP TABLE SETTING Robert Hoare, who is a food historian Historic Royal Palaces is accredited with this photograph