Tankard engraved with scenes depicting the Great Plague.

This silver tankard is part of a collection of six others commissioned by Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey, the Justice of Peace for His Majesty Charles II, for his friends (Banister 1967, 356). The tankard is engraved with depictions of the Great Fire and the Great Plague of London in commemoration of his services to the city as a magistrate during these events. The Great Plague engraving depicts a mass burial of victims of the plague and is accompanied by a Latin inscription honouring Godfrey’s role in lessening the plague’s devastating effects. It also includes a reference to a silver flagon gifted to Godfrey from Charles II in recognition “of his faithfulness to duty” (358).

Commissioned by Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey

I.N.

1675/1676

Silver engraved tankard

Latin

Public domain

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, 1987.54