s Silver tankard by Edward Mangie, Hull, 1660 - Hull Museums Collections

Silver tankard by Edward Mangie, Hull, 1660

This is one of only four known tankards made by Edward Mangie. Edward was a silversmith who moved from York to Hull in 1660. His workshop was in Church Lane, just off Market Place, in a building used by many silversmiths before him.

A silver tankard like this would mostly have been for show rather than for practical use. Before there were banks, many people stored their wealth and money by buying pieces of silver like this.

Edward Mangie was lucky with his timing when he moved to Hull in 1660. This was the same year King Charles II was restored to the throne. Before this, elaborate pieces of silver were frowned upon during the Commonwealth and the rule of Oliver Cromwell. This led to hard times for silversmiths and similar craftsmen. This all changed with the Restoration and many people started ordering new silver and spending money again.

Edward Mangie had taken over the workshop of goldsmith Robert Robinson who died in 1660. In 1661 Edward travelled back to York and married Katherine Spalding. Katherine must have been a strong and sad woman. During her marriage to Edward they had many children that died in infancy, including triplets in 1658. A son did survive, also called Edward, but he was only 12 when his father died in 1685.

When Edward Mangie died, his wife Katherine carried on the business and had her own maker’s mark of ‘K.M.’ However, it is not known whether she actually made the silver herself or was simply the owner of the business.

The Mangies remained in business in Church Lane until the 1730s, but after 1697 very few pieces by them are known. Katherine Mangie died in 1725 at the great age of 88. Her son Edward continued to trade as a goldsmith at the Church Lane premises for the next nine years. He probably retired then and in 1739 he died, recorded as being a ‘gentleman’.