Pewter

I've got two artifacts to share this Friday, both from the pewter collection.

There are several hundred pewter artifacts in the Belle collection, most of which are (or used to be) plates.

There are quite a few of these small pewter plates, which were mostly stacked in crates in Belle's hold.

The backs of the plates are pretty interesting.  They carry two marks: a maker's mark and a owner's mark.  Most are marked with the owner's mark LG, probably for Le Gros.  Le Gros was a merchant who was on the La Belle expedition, and he died early on after a rattlesnake bite.

Above, you can see the owner's mark (top), and the maker's mark (bottom).

The second artifact today is a pewter screw top.  Just like today, bottles needed removable, replaceable tops.  The bottles on the La Salle expedition have threaded pewter tops.