Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
Above is one of the many pewter plates ordered by George Washington in 1759. Pewter flatware and hollowware was commonly used since the 1600s. In the TreasureBeachesReport.blogspot.com I posted a variety of Treasure Coast pewter finds. For example, The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 10/19/17 Report - Treasure Coast Beaches. Pewter Find and Testing Pewter. Pavement Treasures. I once found what was determined to be an ornate pewter fork handle on one of the 1715 beaches. See The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 10/18/16 Report - BIG SURF Coming. Ferdinand VII Reale Find. Silver Sea Salvaged Forks. Pewter Fork Handle. You can find more if you use the TreasureBeachesReport search box and enter the term pewter.
Here is the pewter fork handle I found.
It took quite a while to identify, but after considerable research I'm highly confident that is what it is. Inside the pewter was a wood handle.
There is a book on pewter that was discovered on early 18th century shipwrecks. Here is the link to information about that book. Pewter Discovered on Shipwrecks of Early Eighteenth Century Slave-Trade and Pirate Vessels | SpringerLink. And below is the abstract for that book.
Things made of pewter, an alloy of tin with other metals, were widely used by all social classes in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in Europe, Africa, and the Americas. In the historic record there is much evidence and information for pewter manufacture, makers, trade, value, and widespread domestic use. Pewter is rarely found, however, in the archaeological record, at least from land sites. By contrast relatively large quantities of pewter have been found at historic shipwreck sites, including those identified as slave-trade and/or pirate vessels. Objects made of pewter recovered from such shipwrecks include flatware (plates, dishes), hollowware (basins, tankards, porringers), and medical instruments (such as urethral and clyster syringes). In this chapter the author follows clues from both the archaeological and historical record for an understanding of how pewter made by identified English makers might have come to be aboard three vessels wrecked off the Atlantic coast of America in the first quarter of the eighteenth century: Henrietta Marie (1700); Whydah (1717); and La Concorde/Queen Anne’s Revenge (1718).
Here is the link for that lengthy thesis.
1990 Thesis G683.pdf (tamu.edu)
Here is the link for The Pewter Society. Their site provides a lot of good information.
Where to buy pewter | The Pewter Society
There are several tests to help identify pewter. You can use nitric acid to rule out silver. And you can use a pin test. Or a magnet test.
Here is a link for some more.
How to Tell If Something is Silver Or Pewter: 6 Useful Hacks - Home Arise
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| Flatware and Holloware. |
I was looking through my mom's stuff and found the dinnerware set shown immediately above. I have no idea where mom got it or why. Doesn't seem like anything she'd buy. Maybe it came down through generations of the family. I really don't know., but if you wanted to set a pirate's table, it looks alright.
I'd like to see it go to a museum display or something like that. Or at least someone who appreciates it.
Unfortunately, I've found no makers or owners marks on it.
But that is what got me onto the topic of pewter today, even though the subject was long overdue.
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The Indian River Journal published a lot of good articles for research. For example, there is one with Zaccary Taylor's map showing the Seminole forts of Florida in the spring/summer 2018 issue.
Here is the link for the entire article.
Indian River Journal - Spring-Summer 2018 (brevardfl.gov)
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| Surf Chart from SurgGuru.com. |