Description:
Bell metal skillet or posnet on three semi-circular tapered legs, with the leg nearest the handle longer than the other two. The long tapered handle is attached to the pot below the rim, almost at a right angle, with the stamped inscription "C.U.B. Loyal to His Magist.e. In the 18th century, a posnet was defined as "a skillet, a kitchen vessel", which had three splayed legs and a long handle suitable for cooking on uneven hearths beside or over open fires; this form can be traced unchanged to 14th-century European pieces. The long tapered handle is attached to the pot below the rim, almost at a right angle, with the stamped inscription "C.U.B. Loyal to His Magist.e", a cryptogram for "See you be", probably referring to Charles I or Charles II during the English Civil War (1642-1651) and the Cromwell Protectorate (1649-1660). Charles I (1600-1649) was executed by Cromwell's forces in 1649 after the defeat of the Royalists who were in support of Charles I, and the Parliamentarians who rebelled against the King's Catholic sentiments and wanted to install a government based on Protestant ideals as described by Oliver Cromwell. Charles II (1630-1685) was the first king with the restoration of the monarchy after the fall of the Commonwealth and Protectorate of Cromwell in 1660, reigning from 1660-1685. The maker of this skillet was probably a royalist or may have made this piece for a royalist; Gentle and Feild in their "Domestic Metalwork 1640-1680" shows a skillet that appears to have been made from the same mold. Handles of this form of skillet often had a maker's name or inscriptions that included political sentiments, such as on this example, or religeous messages such as "Y. Wages of Sin is Death" or "Pitty the Pore". Bell metal (80 parts copper to 20 parts tin) and bronze pots were common in the 16th and 17th century, but were being replaced by cast iron vessels in the 18th century as a campaign against using bell metal, copper and brass vessels developed with pamphlets and cook books referring to the problems of using improperly tinned copper vessels. Condition: End of handle worn off or broken off, somewhat pitted on outside. The donors acquired this piece from the dealer Swan Tavern, Yorktown, Virginia, who probably purchased it in England.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+77.142 |
