August, 1921 
27 
The gadroon and shell mounts of this silver 
tray contrast admirably with the plain surface 
Belonging to the Late Georgian period are 
these three examples—a sugar basin with lid, 
a hot water pitcher and a tea caddy 
A tea caddy of the middle 
period (1770-1790) with deli¬ 
cate ribbon and medallion 
design 
A pierced sugar A wine cooler 
basin lined with with lion and 
blue glass ring handles 
the Sheffield platers went from strength to 
strength for a century before the coming of 
electro-plating. 
Between fused plate and electro-plate 
there is a great gulf fixed; the basic dif¬ 
ference is that in the latter process the sil¬ 
ver coating is applied to the finished article, 
while “Sheffield” was cut and fashioned out 
of the copper-silvered plate. Reduced to the 
fewest words, the long and delicate process 
of making this plate was as follows: melt¬ 
ing; forging; firing; rolling. Copper with a 
small alloy of brass was melted to an 
“ingot” about the size of a small brick, and 
an ingot of silver was cast in the same way. 
The two ingots were next forged (or ham¬ 
mered) closely and evenly together; they 
were then wired to keep them in place and 
fired, till the exact moment when the silver 
and copper had melted and fused insep¬ 
arably, and then withdrawn. The wires 
were then removed and the composite ingot 
rolled between steel rollers to whatever thin¬ 
ness was required. In the early days this 
was done by hand-hammering, but when 
larger things were made hand-hammering 
was found too slow and steel-rolling came 
into use. From the sheets all manner of 
vessels were cut out, shaped by hand and 
joined by beautifully soldered seams. 
The Use of Dies 
Dies were used in some form by the 
Sheffield platers from the beginning. The 
buttons (which, with snuff-boxes, were the 
chief output of the first seven years) were 
probably struck from old Queen Anne dies 
which had been made of buttons of silver. 
For the candlesticks, which were made in 
quantities through each phase of Sheffield 
plating, dies were a necessity to ensure 
proper fitting of the parts. The early dies 
were of soft metal, made before the die- 
sinker’s art had reached its subsequent 
perfection. They soon wore out 
and the impressions were not 
always clear and sharp, and the 
gadroon borders had sometimes 
to be touched up by hand after 
mounting. Later the dies were 
cut in steel with inimitable deli¬ 
cacy and precision, and it is a 
bitter reflection on the Philis¬ 
tines of the fifties that they de¬ 
stroyed these fine and costly things by the 
hundred-weight for the sake of the metal. 
At first, when the pieces were small and 
simple in design, they were made and fin¬ 
ished entirely in the rolled copper plate. 
But in the course of time it became evident 
that the coffee-pots, trays, candlesticks and 
cups had a tendency to wear thin and show 
copper at the angles, edges and rims. To 
remedy this fault the makers began experi¬ 
menting with pure silver, and mounts, bor¬ 
ders, edges, handles, and so on were struck 
in the pure metal from dies and soldered 
on. At the time (about 1789) the large, 
handsome and solid pieces were becoming 
popular, and the use of silver made pos¬ 
sible this new style, with its wide and mas¬ 
sive borders and deeply curved and floreated 
edges. In course of time silver mounts 
became invariable, and a silver shield was 
“laid in” or “rubbed in” and on this shield 
the coat-of-arms or monogram was ex¬ 
quisitely engraved. 
The Mount Period 
The introduction of silver mounts serves 
to mark a dividing line between the first 
and the second period of old Sheffield Plate. 
The first, from the discovery up till 1790, 
has been called the copper-mount period; 
from 1790 till the close, the silver-mount 
period. Pieces belonging to the first or cop¬ 
per-mount period are sometimes divided 
into Queen Anne and Early Georgian—and 
those of the second or silver-mount period 
into Late Georgian; Empire and Late (or 
Florid). There are other distinctions and 
divisions, but these five are sufficient for a 
brief survey. 
Well preserved specimens of the so-called 
Queen Anne and Early Georgian period are 
much sought after, and exceedingly hard to 
find. Made almost entirely by the pren¬ 
tice hand not yet quite at ease in the new 
material, there is a trace of 
clumsiness, a hint of inequality 
about their native charm which 
does not in the least detract from 
it—or from their value. Early 
chased and embossed pieces fetch 
enormous prices today. Coffee¬ 
pots, jugs, two-handled por¬ 
ringers, tea-pots, salvers and 
(Continued on page 62) 
