English pewter English pewter While the term pewter covers a range of tin-based alloys, the term English pewter has come to represent a strictly-controlled alloy, specified by BSEN611-1 and British Standard 5140, consisting mainly of tin (ideally 92%), with the balance made up of antimony and copper. Significantly, it is free of lead and nickel. Although the exact percentages vary between manufacturers, a typical standard for present-day pewter is approximately 91% tin, 7.5% antimony and 1.5% copper. 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
Mullion Cove the mineral talc was extracted from soapstone, known then as soaprock. Remains of the mineral are still visible in the form of veins of a white or light-coloured mineral occasionally up to thick, running at an angle of 45° along the serpentine cliff face. This mineral was extracted from a number of sites along the west coast of the Lizard peninsula for about 80 years. It was used by the earliest English soft paste porcelain factories to produce thousands of highly decorated pieces (tea and coffee pots, dinner services, tableware, vases etc.) of a very high standard which became fashionable