Livery Companies are guilds whose
members have been given the right to wear a livery. In 'The Livery
Companies of the City of London', The Princess Royal writes "the core of the
Livery's ethos is timeless: fellowship, welfare, education,
supporting trade and at all times working in the best interest of
the communities in which they operate."
The Master's Parlour, now in the Geffrye Museum, London
The Worshipful Company of Pewterers
is one of the older Livery Companies in the City of London. It is
number 16 in the order of civic precedence among over a hundred
companies. The earliest documented reference to it is in the records
of the Corporation dated 1348 when the "goodfolk, makers of vessels
of pewter" came before the Mayor and Aldermen asking for approval of
the Articles which they had drawn up for the regulation of the
trade. The inference is that the members of the craft had formed
together into a guild some while before this for, fundamental to the
medieval conception of social organization, was the doctrine of
collective rights and responsibilities, and no trade could rise
above a rudimentary level without assuming some form of association.
It is probable that the Fraternity was originally semi-religious and
the connection with pewter was secondary and subsequent to its
foundation. The Company's own records are extant from 1451.
Today the Pewterers' Company is actively involved with the Pewter
trade through support for the Association of British Pewter
Craftsmen (ABPC). The ABPC was formed in 1970 as an initiative of
the Pewterers' Company and its members are required to touchmark
their finished products, much as Pewterers were obliged to do in
centuries past. The seahorse to the left is the modern touchmark
signifying high quality.
Michelle Holderness Pewter
Live Winner 1997
The Pewterers' Company, in association with the ABPC, runs an
annual competition, Pewter Live, for
UK design students and Pewtersmiths. This is one of the few design
competitions which actively links a student with a manufacturer to
ensure that the design concepts are viable for manufacture. New
products have reached the market as a direct result of this
competition.
Pewter Review
is a twice yearly magazine published by the Company and distributed
by the Giftware Association and the National Association of
Goldsmiths as well as being sent to an extensive mailing list of
interested buyers, journalists and individuals. Pewter Review
includes features on the latest designs and products and the people
who make them; news of the Pewterers' Company itself; information on
Museums and other displays of pewter around the country, and general
information on the pewter trade in Britain today.
Vases by Catherine Tutt
Pewter Live Winner 1996
The Pewterers' Company of the new Millennium is a far cry from
the early days when, for example, a supply of armour was kept at
Pewterers' Hall and an armourer employed to keep it in top condition
for the wars when Yeomen were fully equipped with both arms and
clothing by the Company.
The Pewterers' Company today remains in the forefront of the
promotion of pewter and maintains connections with pewter trade
associations throughout Europe via the European Pewter Union, of
which it was a founder member.
