A WILLIAM III PROVINCIAL SILVER PORRINGER

Prior to the establishment of the Newcastle assay office in 1702, there were no official requirements for marking in this part of the country. Marks were viewed as a personal guarantee from the silversmith of the quality and standard, instead of as a regulatory system. Although this marking strategy would never have been accepted by the wardens in London, it was a common practice in provincial towns and is represented on this lot. Shrive has struck his maker's mark and the town mark twice, creating four impressions on the porringer in order to simulate the marks on contemporary London silver.