{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O7763"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O7763/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM7850/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM7850/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AM7850","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AM7863","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AM7861","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AM7859","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AM7858","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AM7857","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AM7856","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AM7851","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2021NB5989","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O7763/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O7763","accessionNumber":"M.10&A-1974","objectType":"Ewer and basin","titles":[{"title":"The Mermaid Ewer and Basin","type":"popular title"}],"summaryDescription":"<b>Object Type</b><br>A ewer and basin were used for the washing of hands during and after a meal. Rosewater or other sweet-scented warm water was most commonly used for this purpose. From the 13th century, throughout Europe, a marine theme was considered most appropriate for the decoration of a ewer and basin. Mermaids were particularly fashionable.<br><br><b>History & Use</b><br>Ewers and basins played an important role in the ceremonial life of the court and were frequently exchanged as ambassadorial or New Year gifts. Sets were usually the grandest items on display on the buffet, or sideboard table. They were made in gold, silver-gilt or plain silver. The great amount of precious metal meant that the acquisition of a ewer and basin represented a considerable financial expenditure and thus emphasised the status of the owner. <br><br><b>Subject & Style</b><br>This set is typical of the Mannerist style so fashionable at the Jacobean court. The style had originated in the mid 16th century in the courts of mainland Europe. It was characterised by highly sophisticated, fantastical even contorted forms executed in the most precious materials. Other ewers of the period take the form of ships, snails and griffins.","physicalDescription":"","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"sterling silver","id":"AAT10977"}],"techniques":[{"text":"embossing","id":"AAT53826"},{"text":"chasing","id":"AAT54016"},{"text":"casting","id":"AAT53104"},{"text":"raising","id":"AAT237068"},{"text":"engraving (incising)","id":"AAT53829"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Silver, embossed and engraved","categories":[{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"},{"text":"British Galleries","id":"THES48985"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2006AM7850","2006AM7863","2006AM7861","2006AM7859","2006AM7858","2006AM7857","2006AM7856","2006AM7851","2021NB5989"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"56E","id":"THES49241"},"free":"","case":"CA8","shelf":"","box":"4"},{"current":{"text":"56E","id":"THES49241"},"free":"","case":"CA8","shelf":"","box":"4"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Ewer","id":""}],[{"text":"Basin","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1610-1611","earliest":"1610-01-01","latest":"1611-12-31"},"association":{"text":"hallmarked","id":"x32454"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchased with assistance from the Goldsmiths’ Company","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Full hallmarks struck on the foot of the ewer and the rim of the basin:\nmaker's mark 'TB' in monogramme in a shield; leopard's head crowned for London assay office; lion passant for sterling standard silver; date-letter 'n' for assay year 1610-11.\n\nOn underside of foot of ewer: maker's mark 'TB' in monogramme in a shield.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"Possibly made for Sir Thomas Wilson (1560-1629) Hallmarked for London\n\nHistorical significance: Typically mannerist model, fashionable at the court of James I. The mermaid has a long popularity with European goldsmiths for important tableware. Throughout early modern Europe, marine subjects were popular also for important ewers and basins, because they were perceived as appropriate given the association between form and function.\r\nQueen Elizabeth I’s Chief Justice, Sir Edward Coke, had a similar set which were itemized in a 1631 inventory as ‘One silver Basin in the forme of a scallop shell with the Armes of Denmark’ weighing 59 ¾ ounces  and ‘One Ewer to the same in forme of a Mermayde with the like armes graven on the Breast’ 39 ¾ ounces. (C.W.James, Chief Justice Coke, 1934, p.316)\r\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Silver ewer and basin, English, 1610-1611","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Mermaid Ewer and Basin\r\nLondon; hallmark 1610-11, Silver. Maker's mark TB conjoined. The mermaid's left hand originally held a mirror.\r\nThe engraved coats-of-arms are probably those of Sir Thomas Wilson (1560-1619), diplomat, scholar and the prosecutor of Sir Walter Raleigh in 1618. The mermaid's tail unscrews to enable rosewater to be poured in; it flows through the mermaid's nipples on tilting.\r\nM.10&A-1974\r\n\r\n(British Galleries - Gallery 54)","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}},{"text":"British Galleries:\r\nSets of silver like this were used for the ceremonial washing of the hands after a meal. The mermaid, who once held a mirror in her left hand, is made of several sections and the design reflects a jolly fantasy: her tail unscrews for pouring in rosewater, which flows from her nipples when she is tilted.","date":{"text":"27/03/2003","earliest":"2003-03-27","latest":"2003-03-27"}},{"text":"Treasures of the Royal Courts: Tudors, Stuarts and the Russian Tsars label text: \r\n\r\nMermaid ewer and basin\r\n1610–11\r\n\r\nVessels used for rinsing fingers were often decorated with marine forms. Scented rose water poured through the mermaid’s nipples into the scallop shell basin. The set was owned by Sir Thomas Wilson, Keeper of the Records.\r\n\r\nLondon\r\nSilver, cast, raised, chased, embossed\r\nEngraved with the coat of arms of Sir Thomas Wilson\r\nV&A M.10-1974","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["M.10-1974","M.10A-1974"],"accessionNumberNum":"10","accessionNumberPrefix":"M","accessionYear":1974,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Ewer","Basin"],"assets":["2019LN0792","2019LN1619","2019LP7821","2019LP5678","2019LP4421","2019LR4618","2019LV7007","2019LV6328","2021MV0874","2021MV0911"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-12","recordCreationDate":"1998-06-01","availableToBook":false}}