It’s not often that we at Cybergrot wax lyrical about our stock… but this item is so wonderful we are amazed that we managed to prize it out of the boss’s clutches and put it up for sale. In fact we have to admit that there was a distinctly unseemly tussle… over which we must now draw a veil….
This is a very pleasing Victorian half pint pewter tankard. We know it is a half pint because it says so - on the side….and we know it is Victorian because it has VR stamped on the side… (over a 6) – and there is also a D – presumably the ‘touch mark’ or maker’s mark but who this was, we know not.
This is an honest, straightforward tankard. It has not been polished – it is well balanced, nice to hold and it feels nice – but we don’t recommend drinking out of it as it as it very likely has a high lead content.
3½ inches high and 2¾ across the top.
The Oxford English Dictionary hazards a guess that the word tankard is a transposition of kantard, from the medieval Latin cantharus. This seems to us highly likely, as a substantial quantity of ale often leads to this sort of thing.
