However, a town mark, expressed by one or three castles, was not introduced until the 17th century and it was only in 1702 that an official assay office with a date lettering system was opened. It functioned until 1884.
A 4.5oz Queen Anne porringer offered by Mallams (25% buyer’s premium) in Oxford as part of a Jewellery, Watches and Silver Sale on November 15-16 carried Newcastle marks from the embryonic years of the town’s assay office.
Made in the Britannia standard silver demanded between 1697-1720, it was struck for 1712 and Francis Batty II (c.1680-1728), one of the most prominent silversmiths operating in Newcastle in this period and the workshop where the prolific Georgian maker Issac Cookson learned his craft.
![img_18-2.jpg](https://gazette-eu-west2.azureedge.net/media/99409/img_18-2.jpg?width=700&height=500&mode=max&updated=01%2f22%2f2024+08%3a59%3a38)
Queen Anne porringer by Francis Batty II of Newcastle (detail of markings shown), £4600 at Mallams Oxford.
The fluted and punched decoration was accompanied by the near contemporary inscription Given by the Hunters Clubb Cock:m [Cockermouth] 8br [October] 4th 1723 and the armorial of a hound on the scent.
A reference to one of the famous fell packs that were once an integral part of the Lakeland scene, it was doubtless part of the reason it sailed past a modest £600-800 guide to sell online for £4600.
Gift from Forsters
In October 2020 Chiswick Auctions sold a late 17th century porringer bearing the Newcastle town mark and the initials of the short-lived Tyneside silversmith Abraham Hamer that again carried an early presentation inscription The Gift of Thomas and Susannah Forster. It made £6500.