handsome silver basin. In a letter to the same correspondent in 1689, he ordered to be sent him two silver dishes weighing fifty ounces apiece, and two, seventy ounces, a set of castors for sugar, pepper, and mustard, to weigh about twenty-four or twenty-six ounces, a basin, between forty and forty-five ounces, a salver and a pair of candlesticks about thirty ounces apiece, a ladle about ten ounces, and a case containing a dozen silver-hafted knives and a dozen silver-hafted forks. In 1698, he purchased in England two silver dishes of eighty or ninety ounces apiece, one dozen ordinary and two silver bread plates, one large pair of silver candlesticks and one pair of silver snuffers with a stand.[1]
The inventories show that many planters in moderate circumstances were in possession of a considerable quantity of silver plate. Among the items of the Farrar personalty there was one silver tankard, one silver beaker, one silver tumbler, three silver cups, two small silver salt cellars, and ten silver spoons. In the Davis personalty, there were twelve silver spoons; in the Milner, a small silver tumbler, a sack, and three dram-cups. The Crews estate included plate valued at eleven pounds sterling. Silver tankards, spoons, and other varieties of dining service formed a part of the Isham estate. Richard Ward left to his children at his death twenty-seven silver spoons, one silver bowl, one silver dram-cup, two silver mugs, one silver tankard, and several silver salt-cellars.[2] Martin Elam bequeathed a silver tankard, two cups, and ten spoons. The owners of this plate were prominent landowners of Henrico County.
