NAVIGATION

On May 29th 1660 Charles II was restored to the English throne and brought back an artistic and cultural spring. The people were ‘in a merry mood because of the King’s coming’. For the silversmith business was booming. The merchants of Antwerp and Amsterdam had much in common with the London traders. A common hatred of Spain, a protestant heritage, and a puritan range of values meant that the domestic magnificence of Dutch silver and design had a ready acceptance in Restoration London. Late Elizabethan decoration had involved fruit, flowers and foliage and the Dutch styles recaptured the richness of the pre-war silver. London silversmiths revived old styles and put new ideas into practice. Traditional pieces were made again and there were new sorts of vessels for the fashionable new beverages of tea, coffee and chocolate.