1661 Tankard

1661 Tankard

Silver. Measurements: Height: 21.5 cm. Maker’s mark: 1661, lion passant, leopard’s head crowned; maker’s mark, RS with a mullet above and below.

Engraved with the inscription “This pott was made of ye silver of ye canopie when Kinge Charles ye 2^d was crowned, Aprill 23^d 1661.” Engraved beneath the inscription is the coat of arms of Paramor within scrolls. Additionally, the scroll handle is pricked with the initials “C.T” for Tobias Clere and inside of the lid with the initials “I.I.P” for John and Jane Paramor. John Paramor was married to Jane Paramore the daughter of Edward Clere, son of Tobias Clere (d. 1671) who was Mayor of Sandwich and a senior at the Barons of the Cinque Ports. He was chosen to support the canopy at the Coronation of Charles II as the representative of the Port of Sandwich.

Two later coats of arms on either side were added; one for Boys of Sandwich impaling Fuller in c.1760 and the other arm and crest of Littledale of Whitehaven, Co. added before 1840. The Tankard probably came into the possession of Anthony of Littledale and remained with his descendants during the nineteenth century until it was gifted by William Carrington Smith, a member of the Livery, to the Worshipful Company in 1923.