Flagon, ewer

A spouted flagon of Cologne type with flat heart-shaped lid, twin acorn thumbpiece and swept strap handle. The pear-shaped body widens at the neck and reposes on a substantial cylindrical footring. There are decorative circumferential lines around the neck (turned before the shaping of the spout) and above and below the bulbous section of the body. A cast medallion inserted in the base bears a housemark monogram in 15th-16th century ‘Black Letter’. There is an unidentified and unrecorded touch inside the base of a shield inclosing the letters ‘H’ and ‘Z’(?) and an unclear device, surmounted by a crown. The city of Cologne adoped the three crown mark in the 16th century – supposedly an allusion to the ‘Three Kings’, the Magi whose relics are reputedly lodged in the Cathedral. The triple crown mark was employed by Cologne pewterers. London's regular consignments of old and new pewter vessels from Germany, Scandinavia and Poland were generally transported with cargoes of cloth.