Enfilade

From Birlinn Limited:

Peter Spencer Davies, Scottish Pewter, 1600–1850 (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2014), 304 pages, ISBN: 978-1906566722, £55.

Pewter was in common use in most households, churches and places of commerce in Europe for hundreds of years before it gradually fell out of favour as more modern materials became available. Scottish pewter wares have an intrinsic interest, being quite different from those of England. In particular, they have a simple beauty arising from the plain functionality of form, reflective of the Protestant culture of Scotland at the time. However, despite its historical importance Scottish pewter has remained one of the least understood areas of the country’s material heritage.

Now, expert Peter Spencer Davies has produced what will be the definitive guide to the subject. This engaging book takes the reader through the development of the craft from its sixteenth-century beginnings, and making extensive use of otherwise inaccessible archival material, brings to life the role of the pewterers and their wares in the socio-economic history of the country. Lavishly illustrated throughout, the book offers a comprehensive guide to the metal, the manufacturing procedures of the pewterers, and provides examples of all known types of object that they made. One of the objectives has been to facilitate the identification of any item, together with the name of the maker, date, and place of manufacture. To this end, the book has detailed appendices, which include illustrations of all known makers’ marks.

Peter Spencer Davies, PhD, FSA Scot, had a professional life as an academic (biologist) at the University of Glasgow. Now retired, he pursues a lifelong interest in English and Scottish pewter. He is a Past-President of the Pewter Society, and has had articles published in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquities of Scotland, Journal of the Pewter Society, and Connoisseur magazine. He is an expert in the conservation and restoration of old pewter.