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. (more…)

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. (more…)

Inkstands

Inkstands (standishes) were much favoured in both sterling silver and, from about 1760, Sheffield plate. Silver examples include the treasury inkstand: a rectangular box which contained an inkpot, pounce box and wafer box — a small adhesive disk for sealing letters — with a single- or double-hinged lid and perhaps a drawer below for quills. Another type, made in both silver and Sheffield plate, consisted of a rectangular tray, standing upon four small feet, which had three sockets. In the case of the silver version, the inkpot and pounce box would fit into the outer two sockets, while the middle one would contain a small hand bell, or taperstick for sealing. (more…)

Anyone who has travelled about the countryside at all will know that there are still many fine wooden dressers about. Not necessarily “Welsh” ones either,for there are quite distinctive types to be found all over the country, from County Durham to Cornwall and from Staffordshire to Suffolk.

A few years ago The Farmers Weekly ran a competition in its Home Section for the best “Dressed Dressers“, i.e. examples which are not palely loitering unadorned at sales, but at home, gaily crowded with pottery, brass or pewter. (more…)

English glassmakers have always been interested in what went on abroad, even if for a verylong time they put most of their energies stubbornly into making a special glass of lead, heavily cut, which beat some of the Continental people in their own markets. But in the same way, the imposing flashed and cased Bohemian glass sent here in 1851, was most respectfully copied by Stourbridge, as were some of the Venetian styles.

Plenty of this German glass turns up at the auctions, so it may be worth while drawing attention to a few types. We have already mentioned the marbled “Hyalith” and “Lythyalin” under Slagware. There is also a great deal of enamelled opaque glass of the same kind as Bristol though with very different decoration, under the name milchglass. The green Rhenish glass is famous, and is often found as roemers (first cousins to our rummers), and used for the white wines of the Rhineland. The long stems usually have what the Germans called nuppen, but the English glassmakers call “prunts,” or little raspberries of glass stuck all the way up the stems, presumably to give the drinker a better grip on the glass. (more…)