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Late 17th Century/ Early 18th Century William & Mary Period English Antique Pewter Bud Baluster Measure, circa 1700 | Old English Wine Standard (OEWS)
Late 17th Century/ Early 18th Century William & Mary Period English Antique Pewter Bud Baluster Measure, circa 1700 | Old English Wine Standard (OEWS)
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A William & Mary pewter baluster measure to the Old English Wine Standard (OEWS), circa 1700. The baluster-shaped body with two incised girdle lines below a flat-lidded top, surmounted by a twin bud thumbpiece — an early and desirable form of thumbpiece found on baluster measures of this period. The lid initialled "IG."
What is the Old English Wine Standard?
The old English wine measure was a system of liquid capacity based on the wine gallon of 231 cubic inches — standardised under Queen Anne in 1707 (hence "Queen Anne gallon"), though in use earlier. It ran separately from the ale gallon (282 cu in), so the same named vessel held different amounts depending on what it was measuring.
The ladder doubled at each step: gill → pint (4 gills) → quart (2 pints) → gallon (4 quarts) → rundlet (18 gal) → barrel (31½ gal) → tierce (42 gal) → hogshead (63 gal) → puncheon (84 gal) → pipe or butt (126 gal) → tun (252 gal). The tidy logic: a tun = 2 pipes = 4 hogsheads = 8 barrels.
It was abolished in Britain in 1824 with the introduction of the imperial gallon (277.4 cu in), but the old wine gallon survived across the Atlantic — it's the standard US gallon to this day, which is why US measures run smaller than imperial. Useful context when cataloguing early bottles and measures: pre-1824 English capacity vessels were made to the wine or ale standard, not imperial.
Provenance: Ex-Peter Winser Collection; purchased at Sotheby's, 12 November 1991.
Material: Pewter
Condition: Surface wear and pitting throughout, consistent with age and genuine service use.
Dimensions: 6¼in (16cm) high.
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