Lot 161
CANONGATE - A SCOTTISH PROVINCIAL TAZZA
DAVID DUNLOP
Auction: 03 March 2026 from 10:00 GMT
Description
Marked DD (conjoined), stags head, DD (conjoined), A, of conventional form, the circular plate with moulded rim, raised on a flared trumpet foot with stepped rim, the underside of plate engraved with crest
Dimensions
22cm diameter, 6.4cm high, 14oz
Footnote
Any early holloware made in Canongate is to be deemed rare. Not until much later in the 18th century does a small handful survive by William Craw and Michael Forrest.
Indeed, any wares bearing the mark of David Dunlop must be considered scarce. He is recorded making a small number of spoons (see Scottish Silver, Lyon & Turnbull 16th August 2010, lot 334) and the only recorded holloware are a small number of communion cups, including those for West Linton Parish Church.
This tazza therefore, is the only item of secular holloware recorded by Dunlop. The rarity of David Dunlop’s work is in part explained but his very short working life, only between 1701 and 1710 when he died. He was trained in Glasgow by Thomas Cumming from 1691 and moved and worked in Canongate, gaining his Burgess ticket in 1701. In 1707 he is elected Master for the Burgh.
Considering his short working career and the use of a pseudo date letter A struck to this piece it seems likely it was copying the official date letter in use by the Edinburgh Assay Office for 1705 – 1706.