The crowned rose was used on pewter from the mid 16th century to denote quality. Most pewterers had their own variation of the design. Later, pewterers also used a crowned X to indicate that the metal was of a certain standard, but by the 18th century all control over the use of the mark was lost and pewterers were using it indiscriminately.
Before the introduction of the crowned rose, a crowned or uncrowned hammer was sometimes struck on sadware and this is also believed to be a quality mark. However, it is very rare.
