Dish

The Pierre-François Tilmon Fund acquired this broad-rimmed dish made in a Namur workshop. The dish bears two hall-marks under the rim: a rampant lion, which is the mark of a Namur workshop, and a crowned rose, which suggests it was made in a Mosan workshop (Namur, Dinant or Liege). These hallmarks vouch for the geographic origins of the dish, but the artisan’s initials GB have yet to be identified. The dish bears richly engraved decoration: flowers and leaves, animals, geometric motifs and the inscriptions MP BALTAZAR 1641 – ANNA et MARA. The inscriptions provide an indication of who commissioned the dish. This acquisition highlights the work of the pewterers of Namur in the 17th century. A work of this dimension could only be a luxury object and it is proof of the craftsman’s technological mastery. The décor is refined and the hallmark in the form of a rose indicates that the dish was made in fine pewter, of the finest alloy. There are few remaining pieces of pewter of this quality. As a real collection piece, this dish therefore has its rightful place at the Musée des Arts Anciens du Namurois, to which it has been entrusted. Further reading: J. TOUSSAINT (under the direction of), Étains mosans XVIIe-XIXe siècle, coll. Monographies of the Musée Provincial des Arts Anciens du Namurois-Trésor d’Oignies (TreM.a), 11, Namur, 1996. Further information about the Pierre François Tilmon Fund (in French)