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.

A Sheffield cutler, Thomas Boulsover, discovered in about 1742 that a sheet of silver could be fused by heat onto a thicker piece of copper. The metals, thus fused as one, were then rolled from the ingot into a thin sheet of copper coated with a layer of silver. Thomas Boulsover used his new plated copper for making small objects, particularly buttons and boxes. From approximately the mid-1750s, Joseph Hancock, a former apprentice to Boulsover, started to make miscellaneous domestic articles with the new silver-coated plate and in 1762 acquired Thomas Boulsover’s works.

The new process was not known as Sheffield plate until around 1770. It had been virtually an instant success because of its lower cost, and when in 1784 a tax of sixpence (243) an ounce was re-imposed on sterling silver, its popularity increased further since the price of Sheffield plate was around one-third of that for silver. Sheffield plate did not long remain the sole product of Sheffield. Matthew Boulton, an astute and energetic manufacturer of metal goods in Birmingham, visited Sheffield to learn the techniques of the new process and in 1762 began production of Sheffield plate at his Soho, Birmingham, workshop. He quickly obtained a monopoly on its manufacture in Birmingham, and became the largest manufacturer of Sheffield plate. After about eight years other manufacturers set up production and by the end of the century their numbers had grown considerably. Matthew Boulton’s wares were made to a very high standard, but he was not alone in striving for quality. Sheffield plate manufacturers generally worked hard to produce wares of a good standard, even though the very nature of the silver-plated copper often made this difficult. Although by the following century Birmingham had strengthened its position and had practically ousted Sheffield from the market by the 1830s, Birmingham products on the whole — with the exception of Matthew Boulton’s fine wares — were generally cheaper than those made in Sheffield.

Antique Collector MagazineVessels made of very early Sheffield plate and all other objects were produced from copper plated only on one side with silver, and were tinned inside where necessary. After about the mid-1760s new methods made it possible to coat the copper with silver on both sides which resulted in the plate becoming practically indistinguishable from silver, particularly since the silver used by Sheffield platers was of sterling quality (925 fine) and not pure silver as was used later by electro-platers. Once the plate had been rolled to the right gauge by passing it repeatedly between pressure rollers it was ready to be made into wares and the methods employed were usually the same as for sterling silver wares. The craftsmen who hand-raised Sheffield plate were known as braziers, who worked in the old ways of the silversmith, shaping hollow-wares on a steel stake, hammering them into their various forms by striking repeatedly with a mallet, then burnishing and decorating. Certain wares would be formed by folding the metal around and joining at the seam, a circular base then being soldered into place. From approximately 1820, hollow-ware was shaped by lathe-spinning and pieces produced by this method can sometimes be detected with the traces of the spiraling pressure in their interiors.

The soft hue of Sheffield plate which delights collectors today is often enhanced by a charming reddish tinge where the coating of silver has worn over the years to reveal the copper beneath. However, since Sheffield plate was intended to simulate the exact shade of silver, such attributes would hardly have excited its manufacturers who tried painstakingly hard to eliminate such deficiencies. A problem which plagued them was the appearance of the copper along the edges where the plate had been cut, but eventually it was possible to plate copper wire and use it to conceal these telltale edges. Sterling silver wire was also used for the same purpose, and the edges of Matthew Boulton’s wares of sterling silver (Birmingham) were marked with the words Silver Borders, while Sheffield manufacturers used the wording Silver Edged, sometimes omitting the final e or d. Sterling silver was also later used as shields and mounts. It was not possible to engrave ordinary Sheffield plate with a graver, which would cut away the silver to reveal the copper beneath. A technique of rubbing-in silver shields was discovered in approximately 1810, and prior to this time such shields were soldered into position.

Eventually the many problems which the reddish colour of the copper had always caused were completely solved by another plating process. In 1830 Samuel Roberts took out a patent which further concealed the copper by using a layer of German silver (nickel silver) between the sterling silver and the copper. German silver contained no silver and is a misnomer. Thus when the sterling silver became worn the German `silver‘ was revealed instead of the copper. Costs were cut by the new process since less sterling silver was needed than when fused straight onto copper. German silver was an alloy of copper, zinc and nickel, the proportions of which varied depending on its uses. Birmingham and Sheffield plate manufacturers imported it in ingots, mostly from Germany. It was a hard alloy, too brittle at first to be used to replace copper entirely, but after about six years the alloy had been sufficiently improved to replace copper altogether. The term British plate is used to describe the plate resulting from a fusion of sterling silver with the new, less brittle alloy, in which diverse wares were made from about 1836.

It was not unusual for manufacturers of plated silver to stamp their products with marks very similar to silver hallmarks, and these have deceived many people over the years — especially new collectors. In some cases the marks have been cunningly designed to look very similar to legitimate hallmarks and only upon close inspection do their discrepancies gradually become apparent. Some pieces of early Sheffield plate are marked with distinguishing marks, but it was illegal to mark Sheffield plate between 1773 and 1784 because of the growing similarity to hallmarks. After this date Sheffield plate manufacturers were authorised to mark their wares with an emblem plus the maker’s name, but in no way were the marks to simulate silver hallmarks. Certain manufacturers ignored this directive and returned to marking their wares in such a way that they might be mistaken for silver, while others did not mark their wares at all. It is therefore virtually impossible to specifically date or identify much Sheffield plate. Fines were imposed for the apathy in the latter case but seemed to have little effect.

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