Ellen had commented about my turkey platter in my “Turkey-scape” show-and-tell last week. I thought I would show you how it looks like without the “load”:
It is made out of a “pewter”-looking propriety material. Here are some other pieces made of the same material that I use for serving purposes:
I especially like using these serving pieces during Thanksgiving time because they hearken back to the bygone era of early America where pewterware was common to many. Following are some excerpts of pewter history in the Colonial time by The Pewter Collector’s Club of America:
“The history of pewter in America goes back to the early colonial period. Though pewter was then considered to be somewhat of a luxury item, it had made its appearance in Jamestown, Virginia by 1610, and in the New England area by the 1630s as newly arrived colonists brought pewter with them from their native England. At least five pewterers were active in the Massachusetts Bay Colony by 1640. These pewterers had trained in England under the strict auspices of The Worshipful Company of Pewterers, a powerful guild which so stringently regulated all aspects of the manufacture of pewter that English pewter was regarded as the finest made….
While the very poor used wooden utensils, most colonials who could afford it used pewter; and it came to be regarded as almost a symbol of gentility. Though pewter vessels cost only about one-tenth the price of silver, they were still fairly expensive since the cost of a dish or tankard equaled or exceeded what a skilled craftsman earned in a day….
More than 300 tons of English pewter were shipped to the American colonies annually in the 1760’s….
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries American pewter was made by casting the molten metal in molds which were usually made of brass or bronze. Molds were very expensive and immigrating pewterers often brought their molds with them from England and Germany. However molds were produced in America as well. These would then be passed down from generation to generation of pewterers. One tankard required five separate molds, one each for the body, bottom, handle, cover, and thumbpiece. Showing great ingenuity, pewterers often used one mold for a variety of purposes..”
I will have some time next week to bring out more pieces to add to the Old World feel to my fall decorations. I hope to take some pictures then to show you… meanwhile, I’d better get back to work! Thank you for stopping by my show-and-tell. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
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