A Charles II sterling silver porringer or caudle cup, London 1678 by RN crowned, probably for Richard Nightingale (free. 1678, d. after 1701)

Of baluster form with a gently everted rim. The twin sand cast handles of C scroll form with notches. The lower body with embossed decoration of large tulips, a daffodil, and other flowers, heightened with punch work decoration. Fully marked underneath.

Length – 12.5 cm / 4.9 inches

Height – 7.5 cm / 3 inches

Weight – 117 grams / 3.76 ozt

This mark was given a possible attribution to Nightingale, and states that he is “the only strong candidate for this mark” in Mitchell, D. (2017) Silversmiths in Elizabethan and Stuart London: their lives and their marks. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, p. 464.

He was apprenticed to Timothy Lee on the 9^th May 1670, and later on registered a Britannia standard mark in 1697 with an address of Shoe Lane. He bound three apprentices.

A small tankard of 1678 was sold at Christie’s with this mark and is recorded by Jackson.