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…)

Few basic changes have been made to the salt cellar since the eighteenth century, and even those produced today in sterling silver or electro-plate are usually exact, or very close, copies of their predecessors. From time to time, of course, designers have endeavoured to break away from

established forms, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, has a superb Art Nouveau specimen in parcel-gilt by C. R. Ashbee which incorporates amber and a small figure, the latter being characteristic of Ashbee’s work, but this ‘salt‘ would be considered too ornate for general use. An interesting example of 1866 by Stephen Smith was of frosted silver with figures of sowers and men carrying baskets of seeds upon their backs. (more…)

Candlesticks

Although the primitive method of lighting the home by candles has long been outmoded, candle production thrives today for decorative and ornamental reasons. Thus a continuity of this ancient form of lighting is maintained, and with it the need for the traditional candlestick in silver, Sheffield plate or electro-plate. Candlesticks in precious metals were slow to come into the ordinary home, which is hardly surprising since, although the two guilds of tallow-chandlers and wax-chandlers were incorporated in the later years of the fifteenth century, only from the early eighteenth century did candles brighten the house of the more prosperous working man. Before this they would be found in abundance only in the great houses of the land, or for ecclesiastical use the pricket candlestick was adopted since it took the form of a conical spike which would support any type of candle. Variations of these were sometimes made for certain domestic uses, although not usually in silver. (more…)