From the time of their invention in the late 17th century, small tables for special purposes have been produced in considerable quantities, many of them extendible and many decorated with beautiful inlay, marquetry and veneer.

Small tables for use when sewing, playing board or card games, reading or writing were popular from the early 18th century. Some have a double top which folds over to increase the table’s size, while others have small drop flaps at the sides. Folding tea and card tables were generally made in a small rectangular or half-moon shape, the top opening out to reveal a polished wood or baize surface. Most were fitted with drawers or a storage well in the middle to hold games pieces, a lady’s sewing equipment or other small possessions. Easily movable tables such as these were found in almost all upper and middle-class Georgian and Victorian living rooms. As with all popular types of furniture made in large quantities, the value of a piece depends on the quality of the table’s design and construction, its rarity, and how original it has remained. (more…)

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. (more…)

In the twentieth century it is difficult to imagine eating meals without the aid of cutlery, yet it was not until the eighteenth century that it became the general custom to use forks, knives and spoons. The habit spread only gradually. Towards the later years of the seventeenth century a host might be expected to provide cutlery at table and although this tendency increased, many travellers carried with them their own personal set of a fork, knife and spoon, in a case often made of tooled leather, until as late as around the middle of the eighteenth century. (more…)