Button-making was an important industry in its own right. By the 1770s it is recorded that over 80 master button-makers, producing all types of buttons, were working in Birmingham where button-making had been prolific for over 100 years. Sheffield plate was ideal for this purpose and had been used for button-making since it was discovered by Thomas Boulsover circa 1742. By the 1780s Birmingham button-makers produced large quantities of buttons and included among their numbers Matthew Boulton’s Button Company which was started in 1782. Sheffield plate had gained for itself such a good reputation as a substance for button-making that an Act was passed in 1796 which regulated the quality of metals used for buttons. Read the rest of this entry »

From approximately the earlier years of the 1770s separate parts of a vessel such as spouts or lids were stamped out using a drop-hammer. The piece of Sheffield plate would be placed upon a striking block which had a die sunk with a model of the required shape. Then the hammer, the face of which was raised with the same shape as the sunken die, was manipulated from above by a rope between two vertical rods and, as it struck the block, the Sheffield plate was stamped into shape. The parts would then be soldered to the vessel. The introduction of harder steels made possible more sharply-defined pieces and during the Regency period entire units were produced in this manner. Die-stamping was a very important technique, advances in it contributing greatly to mass-production methods in both silver and Sheffield plate. By the last decade of the eighteenth century larger, flat pieces such as trays were being produced in this manner, suitably ornamented as already described. Read the rest of this entry »

Registration of marks for plated goods virtually ceased after 1836 because the new British plate could not correctly be termed Sheffield plate as silver was not fused onto copper. Yet again manufacturers resorted to marking their wares with unregistered symbols which looked very much like hallmarks. After 1765, and more so following the turn of the nineteenth century, a crown was sometimes used in addition to other marks. This was originally intended to show that the piece was of good quality, and its use grew at the conclusion of the Napoleonic wars in 1815 to differentiate between English plate and cheap wares imported from France. Manufacturers used it increasingly throughout the nineteenth century until the public were in such a state of confusion, since it was also the mark for the Sheffield Assay Office, that its use was eventually prohibited in 1896. Read the rest of this entry »

Sheffield plate has grown considerably in popularity among collectors, and prices can, therefore, be high. Nevertheless, when bought with care it is a good proposition for both its beauty and usually its value as an investment. Although it is plated silver its attraction lies in the softness of its tone and generally the standard of craftsmanship is good, with the exception of certain later types of Sheffield plate and cheap imported plate. Sadly, the man who discovered the technique of Sheffield plate failed to grasp its full potential. Others were quick to do so, however, and for about 100 years between its appearance and its replacement by electro-plate in the following century, an enormous number and variety of wares was produced by this method. Read the rest of this entry »

Scottish silver

Scottish marks are known as early as the middle of the fifteenth century. By 1681 the goldsmiths of Edinburgh had adopted a variable date letter and abandoned the deacon’s mark instituted in 1457 for the mark of the Assay Master. This in its turn was substituted by a thistle in 1759. The town mark is a triple-towered castle.

Although there was an active group of goldsmiths in Glasgow, mentioned in records as early as 1536, no Glasgow silver earlier than approximately 1681 appears to be marked with anything but perhaps the maker’s mark and burgh arms: a tree with a bird on the top, a hand bell suspended from the branches and across or below the trunk a salmon with a ring in its mouth (termed the fish, tree and bell mark). Read the rest of this entry »

Despite the fact that the English hallmarking system is ancient and well-tested, it cannot be relied upon purely for the authenticity of a piece. Its very reputation, respected and revered the world over, makes it vulnerable to dishonest use by fakers and forgers. Transposing marks from one object to another is not an uncommon practice and can be very lucrative when the piece is sold for a high price. Genuine marks may also be removed from an older, damaged object and `married’ to a far later example. This is why experts will sometimes breathe on a piece for, by doing so, the outline of the joins which are invisible to the naked eye should reveal themselves. Certainly when the object is oxidised the let-in silver usually shows fairly clearly. This practice of transposition is not a new one and has been used for many years. Read the rest of this entry »

The famous Hunt and Roskell firm was descended from the firm of Storr and Mortimer of which the eminent Regency silversmith Paul Storr became a partner in 1822. Some 14 years later Paul Storr’s nephew, John Samuel Hunt, became a third partner and when Storr retired in 1838 the firm became known as Mortimer and Hunt. Upon the retirement of Mortimer, Robert Roskell became a partner and the firm changed its name again to Hunt and Roskell. During the Great Exhibition of 1851 Hunt and Roskell exhibited, among other impressive naturalistic pieces of plate, two candelabra with their stems and branches consisting of a vine on a base of Indian architecture, dessert stands of flowering naturalistic form with Indian figures and ice-pails inspired by the lotus and enlivened with Indian plants. These pieces were part of a service made as a testimonial to the Earl of Ellenborough in recognition of his work in India and, although not within the reach of the ordinary man, were the sort of examples which were important since they influenced the design of future silver and plated goods in general. Read the rest of this entry »

A knife and fork may seem the perfect combination by modern standards, but before forks came into general use the knife and the spoon were the two vital, complementary utensils which served the needs at table. While eighteenth century examples of knives with handles of cast silver are available at a very high cost, the expense involved in making these in the heavier-gauge silver means that most eighteenth century examples available today are of the thinner silver produced at the end of the century.

Forks were used increasingly in England after the Restoration. The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, has a two-pronged fork made in 1632, one of the oldest silver table forks, but this is a very rare example. Read the rest of this entry »

Before the objects were placed in the vat they were generally made by the usual methods of silversmithing. Some of the earlier items were first cast in German silver or Britannia metal. Progress in stamping later hastened and cheapened production. When the vessel had been hammered up from the flat, spun or cast, its ancillary parts previously stamped out and joined by solder, it was ready for decorating. This might be achieved by the ancient method of hand-engraving, by the mechanical means of a lathe such as engine-turning, or by the technique of etching which emulated hand-engraving. Other types of decoration included piercing, usually punched automatically, speedily and cheaply. When all decoration was completed the object would be placed in the plating vat for electro-deposition. Read the rest of this entry »

Electro-plate produced during the nineteenth century may become as collectable as certain other pieces of Victoriana, and for the beginner in particular it has several other things to commend it. At the moment it is usually very reasonably priced. It is also interesting since it reflects the amazing conglomeration of styles which jockeyed with each other for a place of supremacy in Victorian fashion. Also, although the age of mass-production had established itself, some of the hand techniques used in the making of Sheffield plate or sterling silver wares were retained and used for some years on their electro-plated counterparts. The colour of early electro-plate, although not comparable with sterling silver or Sheffield plate, is also far more mellow than the harsh tones of modern electro-plate. Certain examples, particularly teapots and coffee pots, were quite robust considering their low cost then and now, and in some cases might even be described as sturdy compared with the lightweight objects produced today. Read the rest of this entry »