EXETER CHESTER NORWICH YORK NEWCASTLE BIRMINGHAM SHEFFIELD
Although the records show that Exeter was among the Assay Offices appointed in 1700 by 12 and 13 William, _cap._ 3 and 4, it is evident that silver was assayed here by the city guild of goldsmiths, as some of the marks found on old silver, indubitably of Exeter origin, belong to the sixteenth century.
We are enabled, by the kindness of Mr. J. H. Ellett Lake of Exeter, to give a very representative selection of Exeter marks, and, in addition, to give illustrations of the pieces themselves in this volume.
It will be seen that the earlier marks date from 1572, and the X surmounted by a crown was the city or hall-mark up to a period as late as 1640. In the early eighteenth century, subsequent to the Act of William III, the hall-mark becomes a castle with the shield divided by a vertical line.
In 1773 a Report was made by a Committee of the House of Commons, who held an inquiry and took evidence as to the manner of conducting the Assay Offices in London, York, Exeter, Bristol, Chester, Norwich, and Newcastle. The Assay Master at Exeter, in describing the method employed at his office, stated that the hall-mark was a castle, and the date letter for 1772 was Z, in Roman character, and that A was to be the letter for the next year, and that the whole alphabet was gone through.
But J, apparently, was never used at Exeter, and in later alphabets no letter after U was used, e.g. A to U (1797 to 1816), etc.
It is not possible in a volume of this size to give all the date letters of provincial offices, but the following may be of use as indicating the letters used at Exeter:--
~A~ to ~Z~ (1701 to 1724) }in pointed shield. ~a~ to ~z~ (1725 to 1748) } ~A~ to ~Z~ (1749 to 1772) in square shield. ~A~ to ~Y~ (1773 to 1796). The letter I was used for two years, 1781 and 1782. ~A~ to ~U~ (1797 to 1816) in square shield. ~a~ to ~u~ (1817 to 1836) in square shield with four corners cut off. ~A~ to ~U~(1837 to 1856) ditto ditto. ~A~ to ~U~ (1857 to 1876) ditto. ~A~ to ~F~ (1877 to 1882), when the office closed. Square shield with oval base.
In regard to the marks illustrated on opposite page it will be seen that the Higher Standard Mark was used at Exeter after 1701. Examples are shown, 1706 and 1714. Collectors have sometimes stumbled into the belief that no silver was allowed by law to be assayed at any other office than London during the period 1697 to 1720. But it is only between 1697 and 1701 that the provincial offices were practically closed. From 1701 till 1720 such offices did assay and mark silver plate with the figure of Britannia, and the lion’s head erased.