by Peter Spencer Davies
Most silver and pewter communion plate dates back to the Act passed by the Scottish Parliament in 1617 at the behest of James VI, that every Kirk should provide cups for communion and a laver and basin for baptism. Very little seventeenth century pewter has survived. Although not required under the Act, flagons were used in some churches for the communion wine, but no Scottish-made example is known. No lavers of this period seem to have survived.
