Pewter of the Bronze Age in the Near East. The earliest piece of pewter found is from an Egyptian tomb from 1450 BC. The constituents of pewter were first controlled in the 12th century by town guilds in France. By the 15th century, the Worshipful Company of Pewterers controlled pewter constituents in England. This company originally had two grades of pewter, but in the 16th century a third grade was added. The first type, known as "fine metal", was used for tableware. It consisted of tin with as much copper as it could absorb, which is about 1%. The second type,
Ancient Greek funerary vases carrying, and another for pouring. These could also be made out of bronze. A well preserved example is the Regina Vasorum from Southern Italy. The Regina Vasorum has black lacquer with gilding. Demeter, Athena, Artemis, Aphrodite, and Dionysus can all be seen on this hydria. Geometric patterns adorn many vases between 900-700 B.C. These patterns include meanders, right-angles, and swastikas. Most vases from this period were found in cemeteries, thus becoming our primary source of knowledge during the Geometric period. In the 600's B.C., Athens moved away from abstract geometric patterns, and toward more natural art, influenced by the Near