The diarist’s silver platter has a few scratches. Photo: Museum of London

DIARIST Samuel Pepys liked to “gloat” about his success, historians have claimed, after one of his silver plates went on display.

The 17th-century writer’s famous journal spanned moments such as the Great Fire of London and the Plague.

But as one of the highest-ranking officials in the Navy, Pepys also hosted the great and the good at his various London homes.

The recently discovered plate, now on show at the Museum of London in Farringdon, would have been used at one of his gatherings.

“Pepys positively gloated at the idea that people could see how well he was doing,” said curator Hazel Forsyth.

“He delighted in the spectacle. That is one of the charming things about Pepys’ diaries, he is brutally honest and clearly writing for private purposes and didn’t think they would survive and be read by many now.”

Writing in his diary about his guests being served dinner on his new silver plates, Pepys said: “Lord, to see with what envy they looked upon all my fine plate was pleasant, for I made the best show I could, to let them understand me and my condition.”

Scratches to the silverware, however, suggest some of his more careless visitors left a mark or two on his precious platter.

The museum has been able to identify that it was made in the workshop of Mary King in Foster Lane in 1681.

“It is exceptionally rare to be able to identify a maker of a vessel and associate it to somebody who owned it,” added Ms Forsyth.