DESCRIPTION |
Very large Georgian silver two handled lemon strainer by the pre-eminent specialist piercer of the period.
Perhaps more correctly described as an orange or punch strainer as orange juice had been steadily replacing lemon juice as
a major ingredient of punch since the 1750s. In 1773 the Birmingham assay office still called such items lemon strainers but from 1777 they were all
termed orange strainers and an assay charge of one penny was charged. Probably to avoid paying a
similar charge to the London assay office William has simply struck his own punch four times in a pattern similar to the official marks, over striking
three variously to alter their appearance. This would have been good enough for most people of the
period as very few knew exactly what the official marks should look like and even fewer would have objected to saving money. The large bowl with two
leaf capped 'S' scroll handles was designed to sit atop of your punch bowl whilst straining and this
example has the the original initial engraving of L*M to the underside of one handle. The gadrooned and applied top rim is not only decorative but adds
significant strength to the bowl. |
SILVERSMITH |
William Plummer |
DATE or HALLMARK |
1770, no date letter, similar and fully hallmarked Plummer orange strainers can be seen
here and here but please remember to come back to
silfren.com as these links are both to external sites. |
ASSAY OFFICE |
London made but not assayed. |
WEIGHT in GRAMS |
133 |
LENGTH in INCHES |
bowl 4 ¼, across the handles 9. |
SILVER STANDARD |
.925 sterling silver |
CONDITION |
excellent, thick silver throughout, slight bowl bumps. |
FAULTS |
both handles a little bent, one, perhaps both have been reattached and one has two old silver plates
added below the joints in the cast handle sections to add strength. |