Treen Tankards the Hayward Bequest at Carrick Hill Includes Three Treen Tankards
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Treen Tankards The Hayward bequest at Carrick Hill includes three treen tankards. Each differs from the other. The oldest is dated 1697, the youngest 1809, the other is not dated but most likely is from the mid to late 18th century. The origin of the oldest is German – the other two are Scandinavian – possibly Norwegian. One is pegged, the other two are not. DEFINITIONS TREEN Treen is an old English word, meaning literally “of the tree”. It occurs frequently in old wills and inventories in reference to domestic items such as bowls, platters and drinking vessels. Nowadays it refers to any small wooden domestic object usually antique. Small domestic objects were carved from the boughs, branches and knotty outgrowths of the trunk of the tree, the trunk being used for furniture and building materials. Wood turners and carvers made the wide variety of vessels and professional carvers would cut their intricate designs on decorative pieces. Only objects made before 1830, when machine made articles began to predominate, are generally accepted as pure treen. Britain was the major producer of treen. Hard woods like oak, sycamore and maple were used extensively. Other countries produced treen, particularly those in the northern hemisphere with a ready supply of timber. Sweden and Norway had a unique style of treen that used a lot of birch. Germany (in particular the dense Black Forest region) and Switzerland both made a considerable amount of treen. France and Italy made little treen. Most of their domestic items were pottery. TANKARD The word tankard originally meant any wooden vessel. From the 13th century it came to mean a drinking vessel. The earliest tankards were made of wooden staves, similar to barrels and did not have lids. Nowadays tankard refers to a large drinking cup, usually with one handle and sometimes with a hinged lid. PEGGED During the Saxon era (5th to 11th century) the wooden tankard was the most common form of drinking vessel for beer, ale or cider. Some of these tankards had capacity of up to four pints. These large vessels were not for individuals but were designed to be shared. Despite being shared, the contents were usually drunk very quickly, resulting in riotous drunkenness. King Edgar I, the English king who reigned from 959 -975 introduced a decree stipulating that wooden tankards were to be fitted with pins or pegs all the way down inside, with each interval denoting a person’s measure. So, you drank down to the next peg and then handed it on. Drinking more than your fair share therefore entailed taking the next man down a peg or two. Note: “take down a peg or two” is an idiomatic phrase used today to mean to humble. Various quantities and qualities have been measured by the use of pegs. It has been suggested that the pegs in question were those used to regulate the amount of drink taken from a barrel or tankard, or those that controlled the hoisting of colours (flags) or ships. Flags were pegged at different heights depending on the rank of whoever was to be honoured or the esteem in which he – or a nation was held. Therefore, to be lowered a peg on the flag mast displayed a lowering of respect (18th century British naval practice). Carrick Hill Treen tankards The earliest tankard is the one dated 1697. It is described in the Porcelain and Pewter folder at Carrick Hill as “Wooden Stave tankard, ball thumbpiece. Many of these pewter mounted treen vessels came from Germany. Date (1697) engraved on lid”. The German origin is confirmed by the pewter touchmarks on the underside of the hinge lid. They are similar to the German town marks of Grossenhain and Pirna which are towns in the District of Meissen, Saxony. Both show two rampant lions and a tree but in slightly different configuration from those on this tankard. www.pewtertankardsflagons.com I was unable to find the exact match for the touchmarks on our tankard. The solid base and stave body would have been made separately. After joining by the wood turner, it would have been mounted in pewter by the pewterer. The base of the tankard is intricately carved and includes the same date (1697) between S S in the centre. Further details on the lid include engraved initials – PDK topped by a crown and edged with foliage tied together with a ribbon. The underside of the lid also had No. 3 8999 OKoo engraved. BURL BIRCHWOOD Treen tankards Burl or burr refers to the knotty outgrowth of a tree. The tankard is turned and hand carved from this solid piece of burl which gives it strength and character. These two tankards are affected by woodworm- not uncommon in pieces of their age. Both can be described as Ceremonial Lion tankards. These two were probably made in Norway – one sometime in the 18th century the other in 1809 as marked on the underside. These vessels were produced across Scandinavia – the feet and thumb pieces being typically carved as beasts. Both of these have intricately carved lids and finials showing proud and fierce lions Tankard undated Date With reference to a website www.steveonstiens.com/wooden-steins Scandinavian, probably Norway. Silver Cartouche dated 1732 This ceremonial tankard is made of richly patinated burr birchwood. It has a crowned lion on the lid, recumbent lion feet and an uncrowned lion on the finial of the handle (the crown of this lion has been lost) Both the rim of the lid, rim of the base and the handle are richly carved. The body has been carved from a solid piece of burl birchwood, including the feet. The body of the tankard has an additional carving of a lion similar but more roughly carved that that on the lid. Could it have been added by a different carver at a later date? I ask this question as all the details of this tankard match those on the above website except for this carving. On the tankard shown by Steveonsteins, a silver cartouche dated 1732 has been added instead. I have also attached photo of similar tankards from Robert Young Antiques with no additional roundel on the body. These are dated c.1790 and c. 1780 Tankard dated 1809 This tankard is pegged. There are ten marker pegs down one side of the interior. The carving of the lid, finial, handle and base of this tankard is remarkable in its detail. The domed lid features a lion with a magnificently carved mane dancing amidst foliage. The finial is a seated lion holding a ball in its paws. The feet are recumbent lions with manes like leaves. The lower edge of the body is ringed with dots and geometric swirls. The date 1809 is carved in the centre of the base. Conclusion How well these items fit into the eclectic collection of Edward and Ursula Hayward at Carrick Hill. They are items of interest about which to talk to visitor and always seem to be on display in the dining room. After this talk, I also discovered that these three tankards are obviously favourites for most guides. References From the Carrick Hill Library • The illustrated History of Antiques General editor Huan Mallalieu 1997 • Dictionary of Antiques • George Savage 2nd edition 1978 • Artistry in Wood • Treen: The collectors World • All other information was found online Some websites included • www.robertyoungantiques.com • www.steveonstiens.com • www.ivsdeciorativearts.co.uk Pam Debelle Carrick Hill Guide April 2012 .