Hall marks on gold & silver plate

XXXVl INTRODUCTION.
It is believed that about the year 1562, some general order was
issued in London, as to the shape of communion cups, for those
made at this time are all of the same design, no matter in what part
of England they are found. They are mostly of elegant form, but
as different from the chalices, out of which they were probably
made, as can well be imagined.
A cup of this period has a conical bowl
with slightly hollowed sides and somewhat
flat base, engraved with one or two
Communion Cur and
Cover Paten.
Date 1569-70, Great Doddington
Church, Northamptonshire.
belts of strap work enclosing foliage.
The stem is always evenly balanced, with
a circular knop in the centre, on a flat
j&.llet, and it is joined to the bowl and
foot by either horizontal or vertical
mouldings. The foot is generally high
and dome-shaped, resting on a flat flange,
on which is sometimes engraved the egg
and tongue pattern. The paten is made
so as to serve as a cover for the cup, the
foot forming a handle; sometimes the
paten is engraved with strap ornamentation
like the cup, and sometimes the date
is engraved on the foot or button.
An enormous number of Elizabethan
cups and patens still remain, but no two
are alike, although the same type is used
for all.
During the reigns of James I and
Charles I the type of cup and cover
changes but little. The cups were, however,
often taller, slighter and less elegant, the engraved belt round
the bowl being often omitted. Cover patens were also used.
Another type of cup at this time was made with a bell-shaped bowl
and baluster stem, and this form of cup does not appear ever to have
been used with a cover paten.
During the Commonwealth but little plate of any kind was
made in England. Two patterns of cups were used at this time.
One of these has a somewhat large bowl, with flat base, baluster
stem, and flat foot. The other has a large bell-shaped or conical
bowl, a thick stem with a flat flange or plate for knop, swelling
gradually to form a plain foot, a cup of this type generally has a
cover paten, with a single depression, made to fit it face upwards.
During the reigns of Charles II and James II some magnificent
cups and patens will be found, and also some which are very plain
and ugly.
The same pattern of cup before described, continued to be
manufactured, and at the same time a new form was introduced.