ANTIQUE SILVER &
SHEFFIELD (Rolled) SILVER PLATE:
What it is and how it begun
Contributed by: www.Marks4Antiques.com
It was about 1743 when Thomas Boulsover discovered that
an ingot of copper could be given a coating of silver by means of fusion by
heat, and that the two metals united could be worked into shape as one. Most
importantly, the copper always retained its silver covering, however thinly it
was rolled. At first, Boulsover used plated copper for making buttons, boxes and
other small wares. However, in the 1750s and 1760s the new process was taken up
by other manufacturers and quickly became one of Sheffield's most important
industries. The manufacture of plated goods was also carried on in Birmingham
and at the beginning of Victoria's reign, Sheffield plate was being produced at
both locations.
The industry was well known for its ingenuity on improving mechanical means of
speeding up manufacture and producing cheaper goods. Wherever possible, parts of
vessels were stamped out in steel dies with the aid of a drop hammer. For
example, "the base of candlesticks is usually made in a die by the stamp, as
well as the neck, the dish part of the nozzle or socket, and the tubular stem or
pillar. The different parts are united, some with soft and others with hard
solder. The branches of candlesticks are formed in two semi-cylindrical halves"
[from Dr. Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines, Vol. III, 1867, p.
441].
Moldings around the edges of vessels were also stamped out in a machine known as
a swage, which consisted of two steel dies of complementary shape between which
the flat metal was pressed into the form of molding required. In the early part
of the Victorian era a roller was devised as a substitute for the swage. Very
often during the 19thC, the more elaborate decorative features of candelabra and
candlesticks were stamped out of silver and soldered on to plain round basic
shapes. When very ornate styles became fashionable in the 1830s and 1840s the
entire candlestick was often stamped out in thin silver, and frequently the only
parts made of plated metal were the nozzles. These decorative details were
filled up with solder and were used on dishes, waiters and salvers as well as on
candlesticks. A rod of iron passed through the center strengthened the
candlesticks and the remainder of the space was filled with a resinous compound.
Around 1820, spinning came into common use as a method of forming the bodies of
silver hollow-ware. The sheet of plated metal was forced on to a wooden chuck of
the required shape, which was kept continually revolving. This was a quicker
method than die-stamping.
Various devices were adopted to assist the illusion of the goods being made
entirely of silver. Patches of silver were fused on to objects so that
coats-of-arms or silver crest marks could be engraved on them without the copper
showing through. For objects such as serving plates or dishes, cups and beakers,
ingots of copper plated with silver on both sides were used. The bottoms of
salvers and trays and the insides of dish-warmers were given a coating of tin to
hide the red of the copper. From about 1785, the edges of objects where the
silver coating was likely to be worn away and the copper to show through, were
given special coverings of silver. This method was particularly perfected by
Matthew Boulton whose silverplated wares sometimes bore the additional stamp
“SILVER BORDERS”.
Sheffield manufacturers sometimes stamped the words “SILVER EDGES” on their
goods. An improved method of making silver edges was patented in 1824 by Samuel
Roberts, one of the most important and inventive Sheffield manufacturers of the
early nineteenth century. In 1830 Roberts took out another important patent.
This provided for the introduction of a layer of German silver (now known as
Nickel Silver) or other white metal alloy between the silver layer and the
copper ingot, once again so that the wearing away of the silver should not be as
noticeable. Roberts had been very quick to take advantage of the new invention,
an alloy of nickel, copper and zinc, the first sample of which was brought to
Sheffield from Berlin in 1830. This alloy was originally a Chinese invention and
as early as the 1820s, Edward Thomason of Birmingham had been experimenting in
order to find out its component parts. At first, the new alloy proved too
brittle for use as a replacement for the copper ingot, but, by 1836, an improved
version known as "Argentine" had been perfected and this quickly came into use
among all the leading manufacturers as a replacement for copper. The white color
of the alloy meant that a thinner layer of silver could be used, which then made
the end product cheaper.
This was an important factor for English manufacturers, especially as from 1820
onwards, a considerable number of very inexpensive plated articles from France
came on to the English market and also competed with English goods in the export
market. French goods were made of copper of a deeper red than that used by
English manufacturers. They were covered with a much thinner layer of silver and
they lacked such refinements as silver edges.
The Sheffield plate industry was characterized by a large number of firms, which
were constantly changing their names as new partners were brought in or as
smaller firms were acquired by more prosperous larger companies. Most of them
made silver as well as plated goods. Amongst prominent firms in the beginning of
Victorian era, were Thomas Bradbury & Sons and James Dixon & Co., both of which
survived for a long time. Other important Sheffield silver firms in the first
half of the nineteenth century were T. & J. Creswick, I. & I. Waterhouse & Co.,
Padley, Parkin & Co., Henry Wilkinson & Co., Roberts, Smith & Co. (which became
Smith, Sissons & Co., in 1848), Gainsford & Nicholson, and Hawkesworth, Eyre &
Co. In the history of the industry which was written by a member of the Bradbury
family in 1911 [F. Bradbury: A History of Old Sheffield Plate], some of the
silver marks used by firms in the 1830s and 1840s are illustrated. In previous
years marks on Sheffield silver plate had sometimes been registered at the
Sheffield Assay Office, but after 1836 this practice was for the most part
discontinued. For example, an open hand was used from 1837 by Padley, Parkin &
Co., of Watson Walk. Later this mark was often used on electroplated wares and
by the end of the century had been adopted by T. Bradbury & Sons. From 1836, a
silver mark of crossed keys was used by Henry Wilkinson & Co. The crown was a
fairly common silver mark, used by I. & I. Waterhouse & Co., by T. & J. Creswick
and by two Birmingham firms, Thomasons (later G. R. Gollis) and J. Willmore. The
mark of a globe and cross was used by Hawkesworth, Eyre & Co., and T. & J.
Creswick also used a silver mark of a series of crossed arrows.
After the introduction of German silver many firms reverted to the practice
which had prevailed when Sheffield plate was first made, of stamping their goods
with small marks made to look as nearly as possible like those on Sterling
Silver goods. Silver plated goods also often bear the marks of big London firms
such as Garrard or Savory, who bought plated metal from the rolling mills of
Sheffield and Birmingham and produced it in their own workshops. London
retailers who sold Sheffield silver plate, sometimes stamped the articles with
their own name, but many silver plated goods bore no marks at all and it is not
possible to determine their place of origin.
At the beginning of the Victorian era, the most important firm producing
Sheffield silver plate in Birmingham was still the Soho Manufactory, which had
been founded in 1762 by Matthew Boulton in partnership with John Fothergill. In
1837, this Silver Manufactory was in the hands of Matthew Robinson Boulton, the
son of the original Boulton. He died in 1842 and the Manufactory was taken over
by his son, M. P. W. Boulton, but in 1848 it ceased to operate and the dies were
sold off. Some of the dies were bought by Bradburys and were still in their
possession in 1911.
In general, Sheffield silver-plated goods in the 1830s and 1840s tended to lag
behind Sterling Silverware in design. This was probably a consequence of the
fact that dies were expensive to make and manufacturers went on using them as
long as possible. For example, the Melon Pattern was still being widely made in
the 1830s. Decoration normally consisted of stamped moldings and edgings and
flat chasing and engraving. Pierced work, which was often stamped out by
mechanical punches, remained popular. Bradbury illustrates some designs of this
period, including pierced Gothic silver salt-cellars, snuffer trays and silver
candlesticks with careful Rococo ornaments, silver epergnes decorated with
acanthus leaves and scrolls, and silver tea and coffee sets in elaborate lobed
shapes, also in the Rococo style. Silver salvers were frequently decorated with
elaborate engraved Rococo scrolls and flowers.
The patenting of the electro-plating method in 1840 by Elkingtons of Birmingham
was a blow from which the Sheffield plate industry never recovered. Although
Elkingtons imposed rather severe terms on manufacturers who wished to take out a
license under the patent to use the new method, many manufacturers went over to
it. Not all firms, however, found it profitable to do this at first. For
example, in December 1848, Thomas Bradbury wrote to Elkingtons: "We beg to
inform you that we have determined to make trial of your patent electroplating
process for a term of six months from this date and agree hereby to pay you the
sum of 1/6 per oz. for all silver deposited during that time, and should the
trial answer our expectation we will, at the expiration of the said term, take
out the usual license." In June 1849 this agreement was extended for a further
six months, but in May 1850 Bradbury wrote to Elkingtons: "We have now ceased
Electroplating, our work of this sort not being sufficient to induce us to
continue it." (Elkington Records, Vol. 6.). Bradbury's continued to make
Sheffield plate until the end of the century.
Another firm which continued to make Sheffield plate was James Dixon & Co., who
showed examples at the Great Exhibition of 1851, amongst a considerable number
of other firms including Hawkesworth, Eyre & Co., Padley, Parkin & Staniforth,
Henry Wilkinson & Co., and T. J. & N. Creswick who were awarded a medal for
their display. In addition to actual wares Padley, Parkin & Staniforth, showed
several items to illustrate the process of manufacture, including an “Ingot of
German silver, with a piece of standard silver upon it, ready for plating. Ingot
of metal, plated, as taken out of the furnace. Sundry pieces of plated metal
rolled down from the ingot, ready for working." The Official Catalogue included
an account of the manufacture of Sheffield plate to supplement this display.
Dixons showed Sheffield silver plated goods again at the International
Exhibition of 1862 and were awarded a medal "for the general excellence of their
works in Sheffield and electro-plate." The designs included a silver coffee and
tea service of classical urn shapes decorated with acanthus ornament, a
classical wine-cooler and a silver claret jug in the Rococo style. By this time,
however, most firms had given up the manufacture of Sheffield plate in favor of
the new process of electroplating which was both cheaper and much more adapted
to the ornate decorative treatment preferred by Victorian designers.
As late as 1878 Sheffield plate was shown at the International Exhibition held
in Paris in that year by the firm of Ridge, Woodcock & Hardy. Some of the items
were illustrated in the Art Journal with the nostalgic comment that they were
"examples of the good old Sheffield Plated Goods, made to wear and to last".
Such goods were, however, a rarity by this time and by the end of the century,
Sheffield plate had come to be used only for such items as sliver plated
carriage lamp parts and buttons, where its durability was still appreciated.
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