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Caster

ca.1730 (made)
Artist/Maker
Samuel Welles (maker)
Place of origin
London (made)

A caster is a small container with a pierced cover and is used for sprinkling sugar, salt, ground pepper and spices or dry mustard powder over food.


Object details

Category
Metalwork
Object type
Caster
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Caster
  • Cover (Closure)
Materials and techniques
Silver, rasied, chased and pierced.
Silver
Raising
Chasing
Piercing
Brief description
Caster, silver, London ca.1730, mark of Samuel Welles (possibly).
Physical description
Caster silver, plain vase shaped body on a raised moulded foot. The pull off lid is decorated with vertical panels of chased lozenges pierced with a circle in the centre. The base transposed from another piece, the original maker's mark and date letter obscured by the overstruck SW mark three times.
Dimensions
  • Height: 15.5cm
  • Length: 5.68cm
  • Width: 4.8cm
  • Weight: 147.8g
Marks and inscriptions
  • S W in script struck three times. This is a duty dodger, the base has been transposed from another piece. (see notes)
  • London hallmarks (and maker's mark) obscured by the overstiking of the mark SW for Samuel Welles
Credit line
Given by Miss Majorie Ball
Object history
Gift - Miss Marjorie Ball

This object is known as a duty dodger, a dishonest practice whereby existing hallmarks from another piece is inserted into the new piece or overstruck with the maker's mark several times. This was to avoid the imposition of a tax by giving the false impression it had already been paid.
Subjects depicted
Moulding
Lozenge
Summary
A caster is a small container with a pierced cover and is used for sprinkling sugar, salt, ground pepper and spices or dry mustard powder over food.
Bibliographic reference
Grimwade 1990 No. 2667
Collection
Metalwork Collection
Accession number
M.6:1, 2-1975

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Record createdSeptember 10, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O103554/caster-samuel-welles/
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