The most versatile and widely available of precious metals, silver combines brilliance with strength and the ability to be intricately worked by a variety of techniques to create objects of great beauty.

Pure Silver is too soft to be made into articles that must withstand daily wear and tear, so it is alloyed (blended) with a base metal — usually copper — to make it tougher and more malleable. Most antique and modern silver in Britain is of sterling standard, which contains 92.5 per cent pure silver to 7.5 per cent base metal. (more…)

Walnut and other close-grained timbers could be cut into thin slices of richly figured wood that could then be glued onto a carcass made of cheaper timber. There was far less wastage, and the softwood used in Britain to make the carcass was far easier to work than the more decorative hardwoods. The newskills were the province of the cabinet-maker.

The Carcass and Drawers

Oak was favoured for carcass work on the Continent, but British cabinet-makers preferred the softer Baltic pine. Particularly smooth, close-fitting joints were required where two panels met at right angles, since any movement would crack the veneer. The dovetail joint, with fan-shaped interlocking projections, was ideal— particularly in the lapped or stopped form, which concealed the dovetails. (more…)

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. (more…)

A few years after the turn of the eighteenth century the spoon eventually developed into the utensil which we use today. By 1720 its stem had become gracefully curved and terminated in a flat, rounded end which turned forward or upward and upon which it was rested on the table, so that the back of the bowl was uppermost in the French way. This Hanoverian rat-tail spoon continued in fashion for a few more years, the rat-tail gradually disappearing to be replaced by small droplets, either one or two, at the back of the bowl, or the increasingly fashionable scallop-shell, typical of the rococo period. The stem evolved into a flatter form, terminating by the 1760s in a curve which turned in the opposite direction to its predecessor, ie backward instead of forward, so that the spoon could be placed on the table with the interior of its bowl showing,as is still the custom in England and elsewhere today. This is termed the `Old English’ pattern and has been the basic form for spoons ever since. (more…)

It always seems a pity that the tea kettle is no longer required in the making of tea, and indeed has not been for generations since it was succeeded by the tea urn during the last 25 years or so of the eighteenth century, for it was among the most magnificent of all rococo domestic silver. Its introduction was born of the necessity for a constant supply of hot water to replenish the tiny Queen Anne teapots already discussed. The brewing of tea was a fashionable ritual in those distant days, the mistress of the house attending to it herself usually in the drawing roomor salon.

Early tea kettles were extremely plain and homely vessels, and their. rotund shape was similar to that of the pear-shaped teapot. Likewise their spouts were of the swan-neck variety, and their lids usually topped with a wooden knop. Handles were of the swing type with wooden grips, but these varied. (more…)

Early pierced baskets were heavy, magnificent pieces but these are rare. Eighteenth century examples were oval, rectangular or circular with a flat base and ornately-pierced sides, often featuring two small cabled silver handles which were later superseded by the swing type. Huguenot silversmiths were much acclaimed for their fine pierced and embossed baskets, and superb examples of their work, which clearly show why they were so admired, can be seen in various stately homes and museums.

However, some of their achievement must also be attributed to the English invention of the rolling-mill which had been improved by 1728, allowing the production of a fine gauge silver for more complicated piercing. (more…)

Monteiths, punch bowls and punch ladles

The monteith, which looks like a punch bowl with an ornate rim arid lifting handles, fir ^whist appeared some 20 years after the Restoration but became more general during the later years of the seventeenth century and earlier years of the eighteenth. Monteiths are comparatively rare pieces, and therefore fetch high prices. Their scalloped and notched rims were generally removable. The monteith was filld with cold water, then glasses were hung by their foot upon the notchese, and thus allowed to cool in the water. When the monteith was not being used in l filled it punch. (more…)