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DELFTWARE Dining and Related Wares 
              Dishes and Plates 
Family Arms, Guild Arms, and Trades 
D83. DISH 
Southwark, London 
Richard Newnham, Pickleherring 
Dated 1651 
H.: 2 7/8" (7.3 cm): Diam.: 15 1/8" (38.4 cm) 
BODY CLAY: Fine-grained buff 
TIN GLAZE: White with slightly pale 
green cast. 
SHAPE: Molded with separate molds 
for front and back. Slightly recessed 
center within footrim. 
DECORATION: Painted. Arms of the 
Worshipful Company of Grocers with 
motto "GOD:GRANT:GRCE [sic]" and 
inscription "IHM/1651 [1651]." 
Published. Garner and Archer, Delftware, 
no. 28B and p. 13, Garner. Delftware, pl. IBI 
Lipski and Archer, Dated Delftware, no. 98. 
Exhibited: Honey. 1948 ECC Exhibition, pl. 1, 
no. 6. 
Ex calls.: B. Harland, F H. Garner: Major 
E. R. W Robinson, J P Kassebaum. 
The Worshipful Company of Grocers derived from a guild that in the 
thirteenth century was described as "the mistery of Grossers, Pepperers,
and 
Apothecaries." The company was incorporated in 1428/9 and was granted
armorial bearings in 1532 ("Argent a chevron gules between six cloves
nine 
cloves sable"). The arms are shown on the dish with the griffin supporters,
camel crest, and (here abbreviated) motto "God Grant Grace."' With
the excep- 
tion of one 1661 dated palissy dish, all known dated delftware bearing the
Grocers' arms are from either 1649 or 1651.' The reason for this limited
date 
range is not known. Also surprising is the fact that, although London Grocers'
arms delftware might be expected to be found only in London contexts, a pair
of 1649 dated bottles with "E WM" initials associated with Norwich
grocer 
Edward Woodward (Woodyard?) were found in Norwich in the 1860s. 
   Delftware molded dishes of the sort shown here are based on silver origi-
nals, sometimes used to hold rosewater for hand washing at the table,' and
were made from the second quarter of the seventeenth to the early eighteenth
centuries. (For other molded dishes after metalwork forms, see nos. D10,
D103, 
D104, D177). The initials on the example shown here are said to be those
of Sir 
James and Marie Houblon, whose son was the first governor of the Bank of
En- 
gland and was master of the Grocers' Company. 
   Two 1649 dated dishes are similar in size to the Longridge example and
may 
be from the same mold. One bears elaborate plant and fantastic figure motifs
derived from Italian (Urbino) maiolica.' The other bears the arms of the
London 
Company of Parish Clerks and the initials "RMAA" and has an elaborate
border 
consisting of scenes of sailing ships, buildings, and trees. Such motifs
have been 
linked to the Pickleherring factory. Based on the closeness in date of the
1649 
and Longridge (1651) dishes and the likelihood of their being from the same
mold, it is possible that all three were produced at a single factory. A
cartouche 
in the center of a larger, plain-bordered dish of this shape is dated 1670
and 
initialed "R M.'' 
116 The Longridge Collection