ANCIENT PEWTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19896, 15 March 1928, Page 10

ANCIENT PEWTER.

AN AUCKLAND COLLECTION. GIFT TO LONDON SOCIETY* An enthusastic and untiring collector of old pewter, Captain N. G. Harries, of Birkenhead, has succeeded in acquiring many choice and most rare pieces. This collection, the fruit of many years of experience and the expenditure of not a little money, he has decided to present to the Worshipful Company of Pewterers. This is one of the most ancient of London trade guilds, having been in existence since 1348 and possessing a list of all its masters since 1450. In expressing the company's thanks for the gift of the choicest pieces from Captain Harries* collection the secretary has given the donor the assurance that they will ba kept by the company "for ever." Captain Harries is a recognised authority on the subject, and his treasures are known to other collectors of repute. He is a member of the Society oi Pewter Collectors, the membership of which is limited to 30. This fraternity constitutes a sort of Privy Council on all matters relating to the authentication of pieces of ancient pewter. Captain Harries' collection includes three chargers with reeded edges of seventeenth century workmanship, two large communion- flagons, and a small plate of extreme rarity bearing the "touch" of John Tubb. Three smaller flagons are of the time of Charles 11., two others of William 111. and one of George I. A "footed" communion paten of the seventeenth century on octagonal base is believed to be one of the most perfect of its kind in existence. The late Stuart candlestick is known to collectors as one of very few extant, and according to a recognised authority not more than half-a-dozen of them have come down to our time. Among other subjects of special interest in the collection are a standing salt cellar of early Stuart or late Elizabethan times, two sugar-sift-ing spoons dating from the reign of Queen Anne and a spoon of the time of Henry VIII.