The Dublin Assay Office was established in 1637 to supervise the
assaying of all gold and silver throughout the whole
Kingdom of Ireland
The Kingdom of Ireland (; , ) was a dependent territory of Kingdom of England, England and then of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1542 to the end of 1800. It was ruled by the monarchs of England and then List of British monarchs ...
,
when the Dublin Company of Goldsmiths was founded by royal charter (13 Charles I), re-establishing the medieval Guild of All Saints.
Initially,
hallmark
A hallmark is an official Mark (sign), mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term ''Wikti ...
s consisted of the goldsmiths' proper mark which was the maker's mark originally used to identify the silversmith or
goldsmith
A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...
responsible for making the article. The
fineness mark, the crowned harp, was applied to 22
carat gold and
sterling silver
Sterling silver is an alloy composed mass fraction (chemistry), by weight of 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver silver standards, standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925.
''Fineness, Fine silver'' ...
, which was silver of a standard of 925 parts of fine silver in each 1,000.
In 1638 a date letter system was introduced and used in conjunction with the above marks. This date letter denotes the year in which the piece was made or hallmarked and is changed on 1 January each year. A new mark in the form of Hibernia was introduced on 25 March 1730 to indicate that a duty had been paid on all articles manufactured on or after that date. The Hibernia mark is used on all articles of Irish manufacture hallmarked at the Dublin Assay Office.
Up until 1923, the Dublin Assay Office was subjected to the same laws governing silver production in England and Scotland, and thus marked its wares in a similar manner. The formation of the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...
in 1922 meant that the laws were made and governed from Dublin, but the system of hallmarking has largely stayed the same.
Dublin Company of Goldsmiths (Guild of All Saints)
The Dublin Assay Office continues to be run by the Company of Goldsmiths, one of only two extant direct successors of medieval guilds in Dublin; the other is the Company of
Apothecaries' Hall in Dublin (the direct successor of the Guild of St Luke).
The Guild of Goldsmiths (of All Saints) was known to have existed prior to 1557 when a replacement of its medieval charter was sought.
When it was re-incorporated as a Company in 1637, it was 16th in order of precedence of the Dublin guilds. It included watch and clock makers.
The guild colours were red, yellow and white (1767).
Location
In 1696, it is known to have met in the London Stone Tavern, but in 1709 Goldsmiths' Hall was built in
Werburgh Street (the Hall being the source of 'hallmarks').
In 1812, the Goldsmiths' Company moved to 22
Golden Lane, and in 1838 to the basement of the Custom House.
[{{cite journal , last1=Berry , first1=Henry F. , title=The Goldsmiths' Company of Dublin. (Gild of All Saints) , url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25507129 , journal=The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland , access-date=14 August 2023 , pages=119–133 , date=1901, volume=31 , issue=2 , jstor=25507129 ]
After the Custom House burned down in 1921, the Goldsmiths – and the Assay Office – moved to
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle () is a major Government of Ireland, Irish government complex, conference centre, and tourist attraction. It is located off Dame Street in central Dublin.
It is a former motte-and-bailey castle and was chosen for its position at ...
in 1925 from where they continue to exercise scrutiny and control over gold and silver ware throughout Ireland, subject to various acts of Parliament over the years, often relating to duties imposed.
See also
*
Guilds of the City of Dublin
The Guilds of the City of Dublin were associations of trade and craft practitioners, with regulatory, mutual benefit and shared religious purposes. In their eventual number they were sometimes called the "25 ''minor corporations''", in contrast ...
References
External links
*Dublin Assay Offic
official website
Economy of Dublin (city)
Irish goldsmiths
Irish silversmiths
Product-testing organizations
Guilds in Ireland