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,
Nantclwyd y Dre a lidded box containing a chamber pot - became popular in Elizabethan times as they were much more convenient than a trip to an outside privy. The table is set for dinner with its lovely pewter tableware and napery, real status symbols for the Parry family who added this room and the little ensuite next to it in about 1620. Tableware includes: pewter candlesticks, plates and porringers, a pewter ewer (or jug) and a basin for hand-washing before and after meals, a pair of "facon de Venise" drinking glasses, Bellarmines salt glazed stoneware flagons and Rhineland imported drinking jugs. This