The quaich illustrated was made at Edinburgh in 1705. The maker was Robert Inglis, and the assay master, James Penman. The hall marks are illustrated here. These old vessels were used for drinking spirits, and the two handles denote that, like the English loving-cup, they were passed around. They were not used outside of Scotland. They are sometimes made of hard dark wood, and possibly their origin may be traced to Scandinavian forms.
Scottish silver quaich hall marked Edinburgh 1705. Made by Robert Inglis and assay master James Penman.
The Dutch have similar vessels. In the Willet-Holthuysen Museum at Amsterdam there is a silver brandy, or loving-cup, with ears in form like the Scottish quaich or quaigh. This is of the first half of the seventeenth century. It measures 9 centimetres in height by 11 centimetres in width. The side of the cup is divided into six embossed parts, each encircling an engraved medallion of four symbolic figures Faith, Justice, Science, and Labour. All these are surrounded by medallions in Renaissance style: the well-known conventional dragons, garlands of flowers, and cherubs’ heads. The handles are also ornamented.
“It is a truly Dutch sweetly pretty little thing,” says Frans Coenen, the curator, the author of a brochure on the collection,” and seems to have been made on purpose to be held by a strong, powerful fist at the festive board. And festive boards were of frequency in the days of the Great Republic, when the merry cup went round with snapdragon, or even brandy pure and undiluted, as a kind of English loving-cup. And the ladies partook as well as the gentlemen. Neither did they refuse the weed which cheers but not inebriates.” The author laments that this form has disappeared from use in Holland. ” In course of time,” he says, “bitters and gin took the place of brandy, and the pretty vessel degenerated into a characterless bottle or jug, which in its turn was replaced by the teapot.”
The Robert Inglis quaich shown, in date 1705, exhibits the purity of design of the early years of the eighteenth century. It belongs to the year prior to the appointment of a commission to arrange the terms of union between England and Scotland. In 1707 this was legally effected. The United Kingdom was to be called Great Britain. There was to be one Parliament for the United Kingdom, in which Scotland was to be represented by forty-five members in the Commons and sixteen peers in the Upper House. The Union Jack was to be the flag of Great Britain.
Based on: Chats on Old Silver by Arthur Hayden
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