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Plate

Gilded pewter

Origin: South west Germany, Biberach

Date: c. 1650, the gilding 19th century

18.5 cm diameter

Marks/Maker: Biberach a.Riss (town mark), maker's mark, probably of Christoph Zoller

Bequeathed by C.D.E. Fortnum, 1899; WA1899.CDEF.B1122

T. Schroder (2009), no. 588

This is an example of an Edelzinn, literally 'noble or precious pewter' which was produced exclusively for display in France and Germany during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. An important difference between silver and pewter is that the relief ornament is always cast, not embossed. Therefore, it depends on the production of moulds, meaning that a design could be produced in multiples. The plate is decorated in relief with scenes from Genesis and the inscription translates: 'Noah went out of the arc and made a burnt offering to God'.

Information derived from T. Schroder, British and Continental Gold and Silver in the Ashmolean (2009)