Like fog or a clouded mirror, pewter has mysterious, quiet depths. An alloy
of mostly tin with a little copper, antimony, and sometimes lead, it is most
often characterized by a muted, silvery-gray color and a mottled surface that
is far less showy and shiny than silver or gold. This plainness, however, is
precisely what connoisseurs prize. They gaze into an old pewter plate or tankard
that's known a gentle life and see that it has softness, sincerity, and weight.
"Next time you pick up a piece of chrome, notice how it's almost like a wall,"
says John D. Davis, senior curator and curator of metals for Colonial Williamsburg
in Virginia. "The surface is so shiny that the eye is rejected entry. It's hostile.
But pewter is the opposite of that. It's soft and inviting."
As an answer to some of mankind's most basic needs, pewter has an ancient,
far-flung history. Many of the earliest civilizations, including Rome, Greece,
China, and Egypt, smelted the metal and fashioned it into small utilitarian
objects. From a very early date, nobility throughout Europe used pewter plates
and hollowware. By the mid-14th century, England, with its abundant tin resources
in Cornwall, had become the world's largest manufacturer of pewter. Strict quality
controls helped cement the fine reputation of British pewter -- so much so that
pewterers throughout Europe occasionally stamped "London" on their
products to enhance sales appeal.
By the 17th century in England and America, pewter had filtered down to the
middle classes. Far cheaper than silver, it was still considered something of
a luxury item. Yet the serviceable gray metal could be seen everywhere: Pewter
bowls, plates, mugs, tankards, pear-shaped teapots, candlesticks, and chamber
pots accrued in homes, taverns, clubs, schools, churches, and commercial establishments.
And by the 18th century, most pewter was lead-free, so it was safe for eating
and drinking. The absence of lead also kept pewter from tarnishing, so it required
less maintenance.
Makers marked their items with symbols known as touch-marks, and owners sometimes
personalized theirs as well by stamping or engraving their initials on the significant
pieces. Important families had crests or coats of arms engraved on their pewter
when they purchased it.
"The old phrase that 'pewter is a poor man's silver' is something of a misapprehension,"
says Davis. "In our collection, we have six plates engraved with the crests
of 18th-century English statesman Sir Robert Walpole, part of a service that
included 46 dozen plates. If there was a more powerful gentleman with a grander
house in the country, one would be hard-pressed to decide who it was."
