The area covering Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridge was extremely wealthy from Medieval times onwards as can be seen from its ruined castles and surviving great houses. It was well able to support many silversmiths producing high quality articles including a great deal of silver for the numerous churches of the area.
There is a natural break down into two separate sections.
NORWICH
By far the most important city. For over 500 years the second city of the kingdom and the only location with a formally constituted assay. It is clear that from early times silver was made in the city, but a formal assay was only established after the reformation when on the instructions of Henry VIII all communion plate had to be refashioned in Protestant taste.
A formal assay opened in 1565, before that date, although many pieces of church plate and the civic regalia were made none carry as yet an identified mark. The exception may well be the spoon, ref. 405/1, which dates to about 1555-60 if it is indeed the Norwich Trefoil mark attributed to William Rogers.
Spoons were made from the start as shown by the London searches and examples albeit a handful do exist. From 1565 onwards they form the backbone of the 200 or so items of secular silver known up to the closure of the assay in 1701.
Pitfalls on ascription are the Crowned Rose marks which occur quite widely both in England and the Low Countries. The Castle over the Lion is the real guide along with the makers and on Trefids certain style points.
Good Norwich spoons are very scarce Trefids or Wavy-Ends are expensive, Seal Tops are very rare and there appear to be only two Apostles. Although not covered by this catalogue we do have a Snuff Box and Tobacco Box which are definitely Norwich, and another Tobacco Box and a pair of buttons which might also be Norwich.
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