Hall marks on gold & silver plate

INTRODUCTION. xliii
jurisdiction, being held by the town clerk of Dover as registrar; it is
probably of the time of Queen Elizabeth. The mace of the Tower
Ward in London is also uncommon. It was made in 1671, and is
surmounted by a model of the Tower, with small turrets at the
corners, each having a weather-vane, with the letters C.R.
A few societies, such as the Royal Society and the Society of
Antiquaries, also have the privilege of using a mace.
Further information about maces will be found in " The Cor-
poration Plate," by Llewellyn lewitt and W. H. St. John Hope,
1895.
ilBomestic jpiatt.
In all houses of the better class a court cupboard, or livery cupboard,
was essential This was, according to Nares, a movable
closet or buffet in which plate and other articles of luxury were
displayed. He gives the following quotations from " Comenius's
Janua," printed in 1659:
"
Golden and gilded beakers, cruzes, great cups, crystal glasses,
cans, tankards, and two-ear'd pots are brought forth out of the
cup-board, and glass case, and being rinsed and rub'd with a potbrush,
are set on the livery-cupboard."*
Shakespeare alludes to this in "Romeo and Juliet," where the
"
serving-man exclaims : Away with the join-stools, remove the
court-cup-board, look to the plate." f
MAZERS.
" A bowl or mazer curiously carved!^
Dryden's " Virgil."
Mazers are ancient wooden clrinking-vessels, on which much has
been written and learning expended. Even the meaning of the word
is disputed, although the general opinion obtains that it was derived
from "maserle," or maple wood. For in early times platters
and bowls, and other articles for the table, were frequently made
of beech or maple wood, often having silver mountings.
The Bishop of Chichester, in his will in 1253, speaks of his
great cup of mazera; and such mazers are mentioned for a little
over three hundred years from this date, in all kinds of inventories
and wills, the spelling of the name, of course, varying very much.
After 1590 no more mazers were made.
Simon the goldsmith, who lived in 1369, and who was a benefactor
to the Goldsmiths' Company, was called Simon le Maserer,
from his skill in making silver-mounted mazers.
* Nares's "Glossary," 1822. f "Romeo and Juliet," I, v. 7.