A Quart Pewter Export Tankard Marked TS - SOLD

This quart export taper sided tankard is likely a product of the shop of Thomas Swanson who succeeded Samuel Elllis a very prolific exporter. For years the mark "TS" was thought to be American, in fact there are still individuals who refuse to acknowledge the fact that this is unquestionably English. The reason for the American attribution is numbers of examples of tulip form tankards, and mugs were found with some regularity in New England and eastern New York. Carl Jacobs and Ledlie Laughlin both attributed this touch to "an unknown pewterer". Laughlin in vol III of his work on American Pewter corrected this attribution as definitely English.

This tankard has a solid "raised shield" thumbpiece which is identical to the thumbpiece on the tulip form tankard on this site by the same maker. To my knowledge there are currently known only three taper sided tankards by this maker. The other two have "pierced heart" thumbpieces that are typical of Swanson's tankards. Note: there exists a taper sided quart tankard by Samuel Ellis with the "pierce heart" thumbpiece that was cast from the same mold as the "TS" examples.

This tankard is shown under our section of services. It has it's lid torn off. The restoration is undetectable. The tankard is now in fine condition. The rest of the tankard was very fine and had no issues.

This tankard measures 7" tall to top of Thumbpiece and dates from 1765-1773.