Several blogs back I reported on my discovery of a 2 pound Amsterdam blokgewicht (block weight) from the Mullion Pin Wreck, an important find in its own right and also because the date of 1665 stamped on the weight provides additional evidence that the ship was indeed the Santo Christo de Castello from Amsterdam (Gibbins 2019a). In this blog I’m reporting on three more weights with markings, one of them – a large cup weighing over 3 pounds - found only last week. As in my previous blog I’m indebted to Ritzo Holtman, editor of the journal Meten & Wegen and one of the leading authorities on historic Dutch weights, for his help in identifying these weights and for taking the time to provide me with much invaluable reference material and images.

The workshop of a weight-maker by the engraver Christoph Weigel (1654-1725), who was based in Nuremberg. Several lidded cup-weights can be seen in the foreground. This comes from a book of professions and trades published in 1698 (Weigel 1698: 330-1… — The workshop of a weight-maker by the engraver Christoph Weigel (1654-1725), who was based in Nuremberg. Several lidded cup-weights can be seen in the foreground. This comes from a book of professions and trades published in 1698 (Weigel 1698: 330-1).

Cup-weights were originally part of ‘nests’ of incremental sizes in which the weight of the cups inside equalled the weight of the outer cup and lid, known as the ‘house’ (for cup-weights in general, see Homer 1963-4; Kisch 1965: 122-9; especially Houben 1984). All of the weights under discussion here were made of brass, a less durable material than bronze but easier to handle and work. Most blokgewichten were from Amsterdam, whereas most cup-weights were from Nuremberg; only one Amsterdam maker, Guilliam de Neve, tried to break this monopoly after being granted a license for 12 years to produce them in 1626, but his weights are rare (Houben 1984: 65). Because the Nuremberg makers produced weights for many different weighing systems across Europe – in which the pound could vary from as low as 350 gr to 560 gr – they probably had several stock standards, for example producing sets for the Amsterdam and Brabant pounds (see below) but leaving it for the verifiers at places with other systems to adjust or ‘calibrate’ the weights as needed by filing away or drilling out the metal, or increasing the weight by punching holes in the base and filling them with molten lead. Weights would presumably be discarded once they became too worn to be calibrated or were damaged by mishandling or accident.

Nagel (2013) presents an excellent summary of the weight systems in use in Amsterdam at the time of the Pin Wreck. Following the conquest of Antwerp by the Spanish in 1585 and the closure of the Scheldt to Dutch shippers, Amsterdam developed as the main trading city in the Netherlands. Three different weight standards are evidenced among brass weights in use in the city in the 17th century: the Amsterdam pound of 494.04 gr, the Brabant pound of 469.09 gr and the troois (troy) pound of 492.168 gr. From about 1630 the Amsterdam pound became the main standard for the wholesale and retail trade in Amsterdam, including the weighing of spices brought in by the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (the Dutch East India Company). The Brabant pound, the ‘Light Pound’ of the southern Netherlands so-named after the region of Brabant - then under Spanish control, and including Antwerp – came into more extensive use in Amsterdam after the fall of Antwerp, when Amsterdam merchants began trading with the Brabant hinterland for dyes, mercury, flax, yarn, silk, lace and other products. The troois pound was used exclusively for weighing gold and silver, and by the Mint houses.

As we saw in the previous blog, Amsterdam weights were stamped by the verifier with the crowned coat of arms of Amsterdam flanked by his initials. The Amsterdam verifier also calibrated weights to the Brabant pound, stamping the weights in the same way with the upturned hand of Antwerp – the symbol of the Brabant pound – also flanked by his initials (the hand derives from a legend in which a giant living beside the Scheldt exacted a toll on passing boatmen by chopping one of their hands off and throwing it in the river, until he himself was overcome by a Roman soldier who inflicted the same penalty on him). The presence of the Antwerp hand alone, without initials, means that the weight was not used in Amsterdam but elsewhere, either in Antwerp itself or in one of the other cities in the Netherlands that used the Brabant weight system.

All three of these systems could have been present among the equipment of a ship from Amsterdam such as the Santo Christo de Castello. Any sensible sea merchant would have been prepared for transactions using different systems in his home port as well as on his journey, which in this case was to include England and Iberia as well the destination port of Genoa in Italy. Even if most of the weights were scrap, as seems likely, this picture is valuable in showing how scrap weights collected in Amsterdam could have included examples of these different standards. Whether they were scrap or in use, the weights that we have discovered are all consistent with the ship being from Amsterdam. From the perspective of research into the history of weights, archaeological sites are important for providing closed, datable contexts for finds (Holtman 1999), and in the case of wrecks for providing contexts in which the mercantile use of weights may be better envisaged.

Large cup-weight showing embedded eroded pin for attaching the lid hinge (photo: David Gibbins)

The first weight under discussion here, part of a ‘house’ of nested cup weights, measures 10.0 cm across the top, 7.5 cm across the bottom and 6.9 cm high, and weighs 1415.15 gr (3.12 English pounds). The ‘house’ originally comprised the cup and a lid, which together weighed 4 Brabant pounds. We can be certain of this weight because the cup is stamped on the inside with the hand of Antwerp as well as with the numeral 4. As we have seen, the ‘house’ functioned as the heaviest weight of the set and equalled the weight of the smaller cups inside, meaning that the complete set would have weighed 8 pounds. The absence of the verifier’s initials shows that this weight was not in use in Amsterdam. The weight can be dated after about 1650 because it was from then that the Nuremberg makers began stamping numerals such as this one into the cups to denote the number of pounds (or for smaller weights lood, half-ounces). It seems likely that they would have roughly adjusted this set for the Brabant pound, with the weights on the high side (as was commonly practiced by the Nuremberg makers); the verifier would then only have needed to file away the excess mass and confirm the weight with his stamp.

A weak point in these ‘houses’ was the hinge that connected the lid to the cup by means of two or sometimes three pins attached to the cup below the rim; a single pin protruding from the opposite side of the cup secured the hinged lug that kept the lid closed. Only faint impressions remain in this cup to show where the broken pins remain in place. Whereas the lids for smaller sets were light, those for larger sets were heavy – this one would have weighed almost a pound – and could be embellished with elaborate figural metalwork on the hinge and clasp lock plates as well as engravings of concentric bands around the cup, as can be seen in the interior of ours. Whether or not this cup was scrap or shipboard equipment is impossible to tell, but the distortion and wear could have been caused during the wreck process, and the date of manufacture for the weight - no more than 17 years before the wrecking - suggests that it may still have been in use.

The second weight is another cup, though much smaller – 32 mm across the top, 25 mm across the base and 17 mm high, and weighing 52 gr. It too is stamped with the Antwerp hand, which means that it must equate with the nearest weight in the Brabant system, two Antwerp ounces (4 lood) or 1/8 pound (about 58.43 gr), taking into account loss of mass through damage and erosion. This cup too was almost certainly made in Nuremberg, but unlike the larger cup is not stamped with a number for the weight so must date before about 1650. It does, however, contain four letters – X, A (with horizontal line on top), B and O – stamped by the verifier in the city in which it was used. As these are year stamps representing alphabetical sequences – with a new alphabet started once the previous sequence had ended – they show that the weight had been in use for a number of years. At present it is not possible to date these verification letters. One suggestion is that the weight had been damaged and was then deliberately distorted to create a spout to allow it to be reused as a crucible for melted lead, which the verifiers used to adjust weights upwards (see below).

The third weight is another Amsterdam blokgewicht like the 2 pound weight in my previous blog, though again much smaller – 19 mm across the top, 23 mm across the base and 18 mm high, and, like the weight just discussed, weighing 52 gr and equating to a 1/8 pound weight, though in this case the slightly larger Amsterdam standard (where 2 ounces equalled 61.76 gr). Unlike the heavier weight, this one has a protruding rim to make it easier to carry. The top is stamped with the letter V, the Amsterdam verification stamp for the year 1635. Underneath the weight a hole has been punched and filled with lead to adjust the weight upwards. The damage to the top of this weight may have been caused by mishandling or by a casting error that got filled by the weight maker but later fell out. Either way, this shows clearly that the weight was present on the ship as scrap. The larger 2 lb blokgewicht provides a date much closer to the documented date of 1667 for the loss of the Santo Christo de Castello, but this smaller weight is nevertheless important for giving another archaeological terminus post quem for the wreck.

Acknowledgements

I am again very grateful to Ritzo Holtman, editor of the journal Meten & Wegen (www.gmvv.org) and webmaster of www.muntgewicht.nl, for his assistance.

A full report on our investigations at the Mullion Pin Wreck in 2018-19 is currently in preparation. For the latest finds follow www.facebook.com/CornwallMaritimeArchaeology. Two other blogs on material from the wreck are Gibbins 2019a and 2019b.

References

Gibbins, David, 2019a. A two-pound Amsterdam blokgewicht (block weight) from the Mullion Pin Wreck (1667), off Cornwall, England. http://davidgibbins.com/journal/2019/10/14/a-two-pound-amsterdam-blokgewicht-block-weight-from-the-mullion-pin-wreck-a-mid-17th-century-merchantman-off-cornwall-england

Gibbins, David, 2019b. A copper-alloy crucified Christ (Corpus Christi) from the Mullion Pin Wreck (1667), off Cornwall, England. http://davidgibbins.com/journal/2019/10/23/a-copper-alloy-crucified-christ-from-the-mullion-pin-wreck-cornwall-england-1667

Holtman, R.J., 1997-8. Laatmiddeleeuwse sluitgewichten in noordwest-Europa. Meten & Wegen 97 (March 1997) – 101 (March 1998)

Homer, R.F., 1963-4. Nests of weights. The Antique Collector, Feb 1963: 26-8, Aug-Sept 1964: 145-7 (two parts)

Houben, G.M.M., 1984. 2000 years of nested cup weights. Zwolle, Netherlands: G.M.M. Houben.

Kisch, B., 1965. Scales and weights: a historical outline. Yale University Press.

Nagel, J.H, 2013. Blokgewichten. Meten & Wegen 162 (June 2013): 3862-6

Weigel, C., 1698. Abbildung der gemein nützlichen Haupt Stände: von denen Regenten und ihren so in Friedens als Kriegs Zeiten zugeordneten Bedienten an, biss auf alle Künstler und Handwercker, nach jedes Ambts und Beruffs Verrichtungen, meist nach dem Leben gezeichnet und in Kupfer gebracht, auch nach dero Ursprung, Nutzbar und Denckwurdigkeiten, kurtz, doch grundlich beschrieben, und ganz neu an den Tag gelegt. Regensburg: Christoff Weigel.