East Anglian Silver 1550-1750 edited by Christopher Hartop

East Anglia was one of the wealthiest regions of England and consequently produced some of the finest provincial silver. Over 200 goldsmiths have been traced to have been working in the area between 1500 and 1750. The trade was centred on Norwich which was one of the few towns to be granted the right to assay silver and gold. It was not until 1565 that the first official Norwich hallmarks appeared and a date letter system was briefly introduced. Silver was also produced in other towns such as King's Lynn, Beccles, Great Yarmouth, Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich.

This book is presented as the catalogue of an exhibition mounted in the Norwich Cathedral Treasury in September/October 2004. It is a compilation of essays by a variety of specialist scholars and a catalogue of 96 East Anglian made silver articles. Each essay forms its own chapter discussing the history, trade and silver produced in the specific towns. The catalogue runs hand-in-hand with the text. Each item within the catalogue is fully described (inc. current ownership, provenance, attribution etc) with photographs of the object and hallmark. The book is lavishly illustrated, thoughtfully laid out and undoubtedly the most important book so far on the subject.  

The book contains a variety of objects, but as ever for this period, the most common article to be found is the spoon. Spoons from the region are often of the highest quality and consequently can command extremely high prices.  Slip Tops, Seal Tops, Trefids etc. all feature, along with some of the much rarer forms such as baluster knops and the famous East Anglia decorated spoons. 

At 128 pages and the very reasonable price tag on this book, means it is a must for all silver related libraries. Even if you do not own or expect to own a piece of East Anglia silver it is worth having for the pleasant reading and dreamy thoughts it conjures up. 

Rating ****

Paperback

128 pages 263 x 220mm

Published: 2004