Object Type
A ewer and basin were used for the washing of hands during and after a meal. Rosewater or other sweet-scented warm water was most commonly used for this purpose. From the 13th century, throughout Europe, a marine theme was considered most appropriate for the decoration of a ewer and basin. Mermaids were particularly fashionable.
History & Use
Ewers and basins played an important role in the ceremonial life of the court and were frequently exchanged as ambassadorial or New Year gifts. Sets were usually the grandest items on display on the buffet, or sideboard table. They were made in gold, silver-gilt or plain silver. The great amount of precious metal meant that the acquisition of a ewer and basin represented a considerable financial expenditure and thus emphasised the status of the owner.
Subject & Style
This set is typical of the Mannerist style so fashionable at the Jacobean court. The style had originated in the mid 16th century in the courts of mainland Europe. It was characterised by highly sophisticated, fantastical even contorted forms executed in the most precious materials. Other ewers of the period take the form of ships, snails and griffins.
Physical description
[Ewer] The body of the ewer is formed as a mermaid, supported by a stem and a foot formed as an inverted mussel shell. The raised foot has embossed ribs chased and engraved with nine bands, alternately textured and burnished. The flange has a ring-punched rim enclosing chased waves. The centre of the shell is pierced by an oval collar, concealed by two die-struck strips, one concave and the other half-round. Above this, the raised spool-shaped stem is embossed with seven ovals within a chased framework. Above a die-struck flange a domed oval chased with two marine monsters and shells in waves supports the body of the ewer. Around the base are four cast leaf-sprays. The body is in two main parts. The tails is in two sections joined longitudinally, chased and engraved to represent scales, and has three fins set into the seam. The hollow tail tip unscrews to allow the ewer to be charged.
The mermaid is formed of several sections. Her torso, head and arms are soldered to the two part base. The head and arms are cast and chased, the torso is raised and chased with three necklaces, the lowest with an applied oval pendant frame now engraved with the coat of arms of Sir Thomas Wilson (1560-1629). Traces of an earlier pounced coat are visible. Her applied nipples are pierced for the emission of rosewater. In her right hand she holds a comb; her left, now empty, presumably held a mirror (cf. the set at Toledo Museum of Art). (P. Glanville, Silver in Tudor and Early Stuart England, No. 101.)
[Basin] A single, raised sheet formed as a mussel shell. An applied profiled strip outlines the flange which is embossed and chased in each angle with a sea-horse above a snail in waves. The body of the shell is embossed with radiating flutes, the upper edge of each chased. In the centre an oval cartouche, its guilloche frame broken by scroll ends and shells, encloses a convex oval engraved with the coat of arms of Sir Thomas Wilson (1560-1629). Traces of an earlier pounced coat are visible on the reverse; four semi-circular panels are chased across the ribs and burnished. (P. Glanville, Silver in Tudor and Early Stuart England, No. 101.)
Place of Origin
London, England (made)
Date
1610-1611 (hallmarked)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Silver, embossed and engraved
Marks and inscriptions
'TB' monogram
Leopard's head crowned mark for London
lion passant sterling standard
'n' date letter
Dimensions
[Ewer] Height: 317 mm, Width: 125 mm foot, Depth: 21 cm, Weight: 1287 g
[Basin] Height: 44.5 cm, Width: 44.5 cm, Depth: 9 cm, Weight: 1658 g
Object history note
Possibly made for Sir Thomas Wilson (1560-1629) Hallmarked for London
Historical significance: Typically mannerist model, fashionable at the court of James I. The mermaid has a long popularity with European goldsmiths for important tableware. Throughout early modern Europe, marine subjects were popular also for important ewers and basins, because they were perceived as appropriate given the association between form and function.
Queen Elizabeth I’s Chief Justice, Sir Edward Coke, had a similar set which were itemized in a 1631 inventory as ‘One silver Basin in the forme of a scallop shell with the Armes of Denmark’ weighing 59 ¾ ounces and ‘One Ewer to the same in forme of a Mermayde with the like armes graven on the Breast’ 39 ¾ ounces. (C.W.James, Chief Justice Coke, 1934, p.316)
Descriptive line
Silver ewer and basin, English, early 17th century
Exhibition History
Treasures of the Royal Courts: Tudors, Stuarts and the Russian Tsars (Victoria and Albert Museum)
The Golden Age of the English Court: From Henry VIII to Charles I (Moscow Kremlin Museums 24 Oct 2012-27 Jan 2013)
English Silver from the 16th to the 20th Century (Muzej Primenjene Umetnosti 01/09/1980-31/10/1980)
English Silver from the 16th to the 20th Century (The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts 01/10/1977-31/01/1978)
English Silver from the 16th to the 20th Century (The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts 01/10/1977-31/01/1978)
Labels and date
Mermaid Ewer and Basin
London; hallmark 1610-11, Silver. Maker's mark TB conjoined. The mermaid's left hand originally held a mirror.
The engraved coats-of-arms are probably those of Sir Thomas Wilson (1560-1619), diplomat, scholar and the prosecutor of Sir Walter Raleigh in 1618. The mermaid's tail unscrews to enable rosewater to be poured in; it flows through the mermaid's nipples on tilting.
M.10&A-1974
(British Galleries - Gallery 54)
British Galleries:
Sets of silver like this were used for the ceremonial washing of the hands after a meal. The mermaid, who once held a mirror in her left hand, is made of several sections and the design reflects a jolly fantasy: her tail unscrews for pouring in rosewater, which flows from her nipples when she is tilted. [27/03/2003]
Treasures of the Royal Courts: Tudors, Stuarts and the Russian Tsars label text:
Mermaid ewer and basin
1610–11
Vessels used for rinsing fingers were often decorated with marine forms. Scented rose water poured through the mermaid’s nipples into the scallop shell basin. The set was owned by Sir Thomas Wilson, Keeper of the Records.
London
Silver, cast, raised, chased, embossed
Engraved with the coat of arms of Sir Thomas Wilson
V&A M.10-1974
Materials
Sterling silver
Techniques
Engraving (incising); Casting; Chasing; Embossing; Raising
Subjects depicted
Mermaid
Categories
British Galleries; Metalwork
Collection code
MET
