The term ‘armada’ derives from the Portuguese and Spanish terms for naval fleets. There is supposedly a legend as to how the naval term was first applied to these silver dishes. The ‘original’ armada dishes were seized from Spanish/Portuguese treasure ships throughout the Spanish Armada War in 1588.
An Armada Service was commissioned by Sir Christopher Harris (c. 1553–1625), of Radford in the parish of Plymstock, Devon, a Member of Parliament for Plymouth in Devon in 1584, Vice-Admiral of Devon during the reign of James I and a Commissioner for Booty at Plymouth under Sir Walter Raleigh. He was also a close friend of Admiral Sir Francis Drake. Harris worked as an ‘Admiralty official’ during the Spanish Armada War and had supposedly acquired these dishes around the time of the war. His collection of Armada Dishes, which are now in the British Museum, have been copied by Silversmiths for over 100 years using the same distinctive and uneven hallmarking around the edge of the plates as on the originals. Today, there have been slight changes made to the reproductions of these dishes – a less indented bottom of the dish.
At William Walter we have a large selection of Armada dishes, from 3.25″ to 16 inches, which would make a lovely gift for a christening, engagement, a wedding, or an anniversary. Slightly larger dishes could be used for presenting awards or could be given as trophies.
