Hallmarks Database and Silver Research
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This can likely be interpreted as an order for 32 plain silver dinner plates (as opposed to meat serving dishes, etc.). An order of this size could have been for replacing missing/damaged plates and/or to extend the Queen's service for accommodating additional guests.26 January 1705:
Subscription by Treasurer Godolphin for the execution of a Lord Chamberlain's warrant of the 8th inst. to the Master of the Jewel House to make 9 new covers for dishes and 32 plain dishes for the Queen's service at the request of the Board of Greencloth : to an estimate of 260l. Warrants not Relating to Money XVIII, p. 403.
I take this to mean that the gadrooned cinquefoil form plate was introduced to the entirety of Great Britain during the reign of George II (1727-1760). Since the context was from a royal auction, I suppose the statement could also be interpreted as George II being the first to adopt this pattern for royal usage, but I don't think that is the information being conveyed....dinner plates, engraved with George III's crown-ensigned and garter-wreathed coat-of-arms, have their rims serpentined or flowered in the manner of gothic lily cinquefoils and enriched with reed-gadroons. This antique pattern introduced by George II (d.1760) was adopted as George III's 'Coronation' service.
Aligning with the research note from Christie's in the previous post, Waldron states on pg. 126 that the 5-lobed or cinque-foil shaped dinner plates were first introduced c1740:Fakes: rather than deliberate fakes, there are many plates which have been altered to accommodate the latest fashion, and in these cases one can usually tell by the hallmarks, as they are either stretched, in an unusual place, or partially worn away. For example, the early 18th century plates which were of plain circular design bearing Queen Anne or George I marks, were often re-shaped in the 1750's or later, and applied with gadroon borders. Silver soup plates have never been particularly fashionable, and as dinner plates are more popular, being more useful, occasionally one will find that a soup plate has been converted into a dinner plate by hammering out or cutting out the depth of the bowl. This should however be readily discernible as there will be either crease marks or an unnatural seam at the booge. [the booge being the transition between the central well and the rim of a plate]
This information is mostly of consequence to dinner plates bought and sold within the UK. The later applied gadroon borders are heavier than 5 grams and render the plates illegal for sale in the UK.[5-lobed or cinque-foil shaped dinner plates with gadrooned borders are] ...the most common form of dinner plate... They have applied gadroon borders and were made extensively from 1740 onwards.
Heamatite wrote:I note the areas of solder at the junction of the rim and bouge. The excellent photographs also show the sharp edge at the junction of the two. Also seen is the really heavy wear to the metal. Bear in mind that this corner is invariably the thinnest part of a hammered plate, centuries of wear and polishing only accentuate the situation. Localized splits here had to be cured with hard solder not bothering to dress the unseen reverse. A comparison with an original scratch weight and its current weight is also useful and would involve a fairly simple translation to grammes from Troy with an accurate scale.
Heamatite
Heamatite wrote:I note the areas of solder at the junction of the rim and bouge. The excellent photographs also show the sharp edge at the junction of the two. Also seen is the really heavy wear to the metal. Bear in mind that this corner is invariably the thinnest part of a hammered plate, centuries of wear and polishing only accentuate the situation. Localized splits here had to be cured with hard solder not bothering to dress the unseen reverse.