Sheffield plate, its history, manufacture and art; with makers' names and marks, also a note on foreign Sheffield plate, with illustrations

Front matter

EX LIBRIS

Cooper Union Museum FOR THE Arts of Decoration

A

Preface

PON the subject of " Old Sheffield Plate " but little literature exists: a certain amount of fugitive and pamphlet work has appeared, yet the greater portion of this cannot be regarded as either exhaustive or reliable. The compilation of this volume has involved much labour and research, though the subject had long been my special study; yet, had I not, as a dealer, been in constant touch with the old manufacture, it could never have assumed its present form.

I have endeavoured to describe the nature of " Old Sheffield"; to explain its construction; to portray its history and name its makers; to place it in proper order and upon a proper footing; to set it, in fact, in a position of far more honour and distinction than that to which it has hitherto been assigned.

Much information upon the subject is included in this volume which I believe to be new to the readingworld; my thanks are due to all who have assisted me in procuring this, no less than to those from whose Collections I have been enabled to borrow specimens and marks for illustration. To the following I am especially grateful : to the Right Honourable the Viscountess Wolseley, to the Birmingham Assay Master (Mr. Westwood), to Mr. T. Ducrow, Mr. L. T. Richardson, Mr. P. F. Morton, Mr. John Page, Mr. Muirhead Moffatt, Mr. John Brown, vii b viii

PREFACE and to Miss Katherine Joyce and Miss Phyllis Green. My acknowledgements are also due to Mr. Sherard Cowper- Coles, to the Birmingham Archaeological Society, to the Editor of the "Connoisseur Magazine," and especially to the Editor of the " Burlington Magazine " for the loan of certain illustrations, and to Mr. George Allen and Mr. T. Ducrow for the use of Original Makers' Catalogues and permission to reproduce them.

I should be glad to receive any information or impressions of marks not included in the present volume.

In conclusion, I desire to record my indebtedness to my wife (" Kathleen Haydn Green ") for much valuable aid in research and secretarial work.

Henry Newton Veitch.

4, Bennett Street, St. James's, S.W.

September, 1908.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Introduction i

II. Introduction {contimied) ..... 7

CHAPTER I HERE is something essentially English about "Sheffield

Plate" — originally, as its name denotes, an English invention, it passed through that fortunate period when Art in England was at its zenith. Among bygone industries "Sheffield Plating" claims a unique position as practically the only art not taught us by the foreigner. We learnt from the Far East to make fine porcelain : we taught the Continent to make our plated ware. In neither case can it be said the pupil's work excelled the master's; our English porcelain has never surpassed the finest specimens of Oriental Art, and in the making of Sheffield Plate our native craftsmen held their own. There are no pieces of " Old Sheffield " to compare in design, in treatment, in construction, with those on which were lavished the best English skill and labour. Thought and patience were not begrudged to the minutest detail, and even a clever workman marvels when comparing the finest productions of the sterling silver ware of to-day with the mere substitutes of one hundred years ago. Small wonder that a connoisseur prefers " Old Sheffield " to modern silver, and that pieces of early date and in good condition command high prices.

The word "plate" means, strictly speaking, "wrought," or "fashioned silver." It is derived from the Spanish "plata" = "silver": Old French = " plate," or " plette." Some authorities, however, consider the word "plate" to be traceable to the Greek " platys " = flat, and to mean " flattened silver." The term " plate " was at one time applied to drinking cups, " a Plate of Ale " being

B used at Trinity College, Cambridge, to designate the silver flagons in vogue amongst the students. Assuming, therefore, that the word "plate," whichever derivation be adopted, means "silver in a prepared state," to speak of *' Silver Plate," or " Gold Plate," can scarcely be deemed correct; yet both terms have long been sanctioned by custom.

The art of " plating" is now always considered to mean "the overlaying of one metal by another," for the sake of ornament, when a pattern or a design in one metal is "plated" or inlaid upon another, or from motives of economy a metal of less value is " plated " or covered with a precious metal, to serve as an imitation of the latter.

There is nothing new in attempted imitations of gold and silver; the art has attracted attention from the earliest times, and various methods have been practised with success.

The ancient Eastern nations had an advanced knowledge of the uses of metals, the Jews and Egyptians being particularly skilled in gilding and fine metal wire-work. The Assyrian metal workers were also most successful in overlaying iron with bronze, but it is scarcely possible to ascertain what method they used, as they worked in secret, and made a mystery of the art. It may, however, be affirmed that they knew no process of "plating" one metal upon another; their gold or silver was laid upon the base metal after the latter had been shaped or " made up." Their art, also, was almost entirely devoted to vessels and ornaments for their temples, hence the secrecy maintained by the makers, and the difficulty of tracing any process of manufacture.

More definite records are left to us of the Roman methods of gilding and silvering the baser metals. Copper vessels coated with silver have been found at Herculaneum, and we read that the Romans decorated their harness and armour with ornaments of silvered copper. Pliny describes the mirrors of silvered tin used by the Roman ladies, and, in his " Natural History," gives in full the method used in his day of applying gold or silver to articles of tin or copper. This process is similar to what we know as "amalgamating," i.e., the precious metal was applied to the article by an amalgam of quicksilver. According to Pliny: "The most convenient method for gilding copper would be to employ quicksilver.

The copper must first be well hammered, after which it is subjected to the action of fire. It is then cleansed of all extraneous substances, it being known by its brightness when it has been sufficiently purified. This done, it is again heated by fire in order to enable it when thus prepared, with the aid of an amalgam of pumice, alum, and quicksilver, to receive the gold leaf when applied." Silver was applied in the same way. A mixture of lead and tin called " Stannum " was also used to cover copper drinking vessels, as (to quote the Roman author) " when copper vessels are coated with stannum, they produce a less disagreeable flavour and the formation of verdigris is prevented."

The Romans even made a substitute for gold by a process of " false gilding," i.e., they covered silver articles with a yellow paste which gave the appearance of gold.

The making of gold and silver leaf is a very ancient art, and the same process appears to have been used from the earliest times. The gold, or silver, was beaten between two sheets of parchment until it attained the desired thinness. To prevent the metal adhering on either side, the parchment was first covered with burnt ochre and rubbed smooth very carefully. This process is described by the German Monk Theophilus (known also as Rugerus). His work, " De Diversis Artibus, seu Diversarum Artium Schedula," written in the Eleventh Century, may be described as an " Encyclopaedia of Christian Art of that day." In it he treats in detail of Miniature painting, Glass making. Working in Enamels, and the Goldsmith's Art. He also mentions a method of "False Gilding" similar to that used by the Romans. It is remarkable that his instructions are so lucid as to be easily followed even at the present day.

The ancient Mexicans and Peruvians had a very advanced knowledge of the nature and uses of metals. Their silversmiths were masters of all the arts of working both in gold and silver, and in their imitations. There have been found in Peru articles of silver plated upon copper by a process evidently similar to " Sheffield Plating," the two metals being fixed together by the action of heat before " making up." It cannot be definitely ascertained that this method of plating was known to any other nation either in Asia or Europe : but among the relics of old Celtic days discovered in Ireland are ornaments of bronze inlaid, or "plated" with gold by some process which must certainly have been allied to " Sheffield Plating." Its performance remains a mystery, and suggests much interesting conjecture. That the Celts were skilled workers in metals is easily proved : their art has left us such marvels of the silversmith's craft as the Ardagh Chalice and the Tara Brooch; according to Holinshed the Ancient Britons paid part of their annual tribute to Augustus in gold and silver collars ; it seems highly probable that they attempted imitations of the precious metals, but too little remains of their inlaid or plated work to allow any definite revelations of their methods. " Sheffield Plating" appears as a new invention in England during the Eighteenth Century, yet it remains an open question whether so obvious and durable a method of imitating silver could have remained undiscovered in Europe, or whether it was known, and merely brought into prominence when applied to articles of domestic use.

In Saxon times the goldsmith's craft received special support from Alfred the Great, and English metal-workers were already famous on the Continent in the Eighth Century. They were practised in the art of overlaying the baser metals with gold, but there is no record of any process save that of amalgamating.

Little remains to us of the goldsmith's work during the troublous days of the Norman rule in England; but the names of many goldsmiths of the Twelfth Century have been preserved, notable among them being the Monk Anketil, who was despatched to the Danish Court to " show and impart his skill in silver, gilding and jewellery." It seems probable that other English goldsmiths held similar posts. Until the Thirteenth Century the Church had control of arts and crafts in England, and the absorption of the nation in church building turned the attention of the goldsmith to church vessels; articles for domestic use, therefore, received but scanty attention. Yet some method of plating must have been known and practised in England, since at the beginning of the Fifteenth Century the art of imitating silver had reached a high standard of perfection, and so successful a trade in gilt and silvered articles had been established, that it became necessary to control it by law.

It appears that unscrupulous merchants had little difficulty in selling their wares as genuine gold and silver: therefore, in 1403 was passed an Act of Parliament forbidding the fraudulent sale of such imitations. The Statute is worded as follows :

''Item. Whereas many fraudulent Artificers, imagining to deceive the Common People, do daily make Locks, Rings, Beads, Candlesticks, Harness for Girdles, Hilts, Chalices, and Swordpommels, Powder-boxes, and covers for Cups, of Copper and of Latten,^ and the same overgilt or silver like to Silver and Gold, and the same sell and put in gage to many men not having knowledge thereof for whole Gold and whole Silver to the great Deceit, Loss, and Hindrance of the Common People and the wasting of Gold and Silver:

" It is ordained and established that no Artificer nor other Man whatsoever he be from henceforth shall gilt nor silver any such Locks, Rings, Beads, Candlesticks, Harness for Girdles, Hilts, Chalices, and Sword-pomels, Powder-boxes, and covers for Cups, made of Copper or Latten, upon Pain to forfeit to the King's C's at every time that he shall be found guilty, and to make satisfaction to the Party grieved for his Damages :

"But that, (Chalices always excepted), the said Artificers may work or cause to be wrought Ornaments for the Church of Copper or Latten, and the same gilt or silver, so that always in the Foot or some Part of every such Ornament so to be made, the Copper and Latten shall be plain, to the intent that a Man may see whereof the Thing is made for to eschew the Deceit aforesaid,"

The distinction with regard to Church ornaments appears at first sight strange, but it must be again suggested that very little metal-work was at that time applied to articles for domestic use; imitation gold and silver would not, for instance, be sought after for tableware, but rather used for large pieces intended as offerings to the Church ; hence the limitations in the Statute as above. In the following year this Statute, it is interesting to observe, was amended, and the relaxation extended to "Knights' Spurs, and Barons' Apparel."

The disastrous Wars of the Roses, which for a time almost destroyed home life in England, are responsible for the scanty ' " Latten " = Tin.

records remaining to us of the metal-workers of that period ; but few examples of English pre-Tudor plate are known to exist, domestic wares being barely represented. The goldsmith flourished once more during the prosperous Tudor epoch, and it seems highly probable that the increased use and display of gold and silver brought once more to light their imitations; for the art of gilding and silvering the baser metals must have been largely practised during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. It was evidently still regarded by the authorities as an abuse, for during the reign of James I an Act of Parliament was passed to control the lavish use of "Gold and silver foliate" {i.e., leaf). This Statute sets forth that: "The better to prevent the lavish Use of gold and silver Foliate within this Realm, none such shall from henceforth be wrought or used in any Building, Ceiling, Bedstead Wainscot, etc., but only in Armour and Weapons, or on Ensigns or Monuments of the Dead."

Again it should be noticed that no mention is made of articles for domestic use, or of tableware.

About this time a superficial method of silvering copper was often employed. A sort of silver paste was rubbed on to the copper without the application of heat. Breastplates for coffins were sometimes silvered in this way, the lack of durability in the silver being of little account when applied to such a purpose!

Chapter II

INTRODUCTION -continued U RI NG the Eighteenth Century a desire for greater refinement in the home seems to have sprung up among the

-* — middle classes in England. There had been up to this time but little comfort, and less luxury, save in the houses of the nobility and wealthier gentry. In the Fourteenth Century a tradesman's house would have been considered amply furnished with domestic utensils had it contained a brass pot, an iron spit and frying-pan, a candlestick of latten and a couple of plates (the latter probably of wood).

Vessels of wood, or " treene," were in general use in England until the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, when they were more or less replaced by pewter. In 1637, according to a contemporary writer, drinking cups were made " of ebene and box, of leather tipt with silver ; and cups were made out of homes of beastes, of cocker nuts, of goordes, of the eggs of ostriches, of the shells of fishes." The wooden drinking cups were called " Mazers," and are often found in very fine designs; they were used by persons of good position. As late as 1667, Mr. Pepys, at his Christmas dinner party, had a flagon of ale and apples out of a wooden cup (wassail bowl), " A Christmas draught," he writes, "which made all merry!"

The wooden platter, or trencher, survived even a century later in circles boasting a high degree of "gentility." Horace Walpole, in fact, relates that he saw the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton at the head of their family table sharing a platter at dinner, " as a tribute of regard for past customs, and a sign of unity in old age." The idea is said to have prevailed that for each child in a family to use a separate platter was an exhibition of gross pride.

SHEFFIEF.D PLATE

During the Sixteenth Century " treene" vessels were to some extent replaced by pewter, though the price of the latter kept it still beyond the reach of the humbler classes. In 1577, according to Holinshed, there were attempts at luxury in middle-class homes: " It is not * geson ' {i.e., uncommon)," he says, " to behold generallye their great provision of tapestrie, Turkye worke, pewter, brasse and cupboards of plate : treene platters are exchanged for pewter, and woode spoones into silver or tin : for so comon were al sortes of treene vessels in old time that a man should hardly find four pieces of pewter of which one was peradventure a sake, in a goode farmer's house." (To possess even one silver spoon was an ambition of early birth in England, and one that was indulged in even when silver forks were considered a great luxury.)

Many beautiful and artistic pieces are to be found in old pewter, and the trade or art of the pewterer was a very flourishing one until the Eighteenth Century. The value of pewter during the Seventeenth Century was sufficient to produce imitations; in 1652 the Pewterers' Company of London prohibited its members from working with or for a Major Purling, who had invented a " faulse plat, called Silvorum, the which ware is ceased and deteyned by the Company." Most articles of domestic use were made in pewter, and it is even now to be met with in old-fashioned kitchens. There was one drawback to pewter vessels and dishes: all viands served on them so quickly became cold. Pewter also suffered from the fact that it could be so easily re-cast; the travelling pewterer, who went from house to house buying up damaged pewter to sell again for re-modelling, is responsible for the disappearance of many doubtless interesting old specimens. But it was largely the introduction, and speedy popularity, of " China" ware which during the Eighteenth Century led to a lesser demand for pewter, which has now practically fallen into disuse.

An interesting glimpse into domestic life in England during the reign of George III is afforded by the diary of Mrs. Papendiek, whose father and husband were Gentlemen-in-Waiting to the King. She has left us detailed notes as to the tableware of the day, which even in Court circles appears to our modern ideas to have been limited in quantity and coarse in quality! Mrs. Papendiek notes among the presents received by her on her marriage in

1783: "From the Queen a case of plate, which contained cruets, saltcellars, candlesticks, and spoons of different sizes, silver forks not being then used; also six large and six small knives and forks, to which Mamma added six more of each and a carving knife and fork." (These forks, like the knives, were probably of steel, as it was considered necessary merely to have silver spoons.) Mrs. Papendiek's statements with regard to the tableware of the day receive support from other records; for instance, in 1793, the " Young Ladies " attending the Select Boarding School of Mrs. and the Misses Eve in the Crescent, Birmingham, were requested to bring with them "a silver spoon and a knife and fork."

Elsewhere, writing of the year 1788, Mrs. Papendiek says: " Silver forks were only used by the nobility and foreign ambassadors, but silver-handled knives and forks were sometimes seen, and more often ivory and bone handles, or ebony and bone fluted, with silver ferrules. Forks had still only three prongs, so knives were made with broad ends for eating peas in summer, and the same of a smaller size for catching up the juice of a fruit pie, dessert spoons being quite unknown in our rank"!

Porcelain had some time previously been introduced into England, but its necessarily high price forbade its use becoming general; at the time of her marriage Mrs. Papendiek writes: "Our tea and coffee set were of common Indian china, to which for our rank there was nothing superior; Chelsea porcelain, and fine Indian china being only for the wealthy. Pewter and Delft could also be had, but were inferior." The manufacture of porcelain had at this time not long been attempted in England, the Chelsea and Bow factories having been started between i 740 and 1750; their productions constituted a vast improvement on the old English earthenware.

About the same time a method was brought forward for covering copper with silver in imitation of solid silver, which appeared decidedly superior to all processes hitherto in use. What we now know as " Sheffield Plate " had probably been known in England for a very long period (though no certain record exists) ; but in 1 742 it was re-discovered and brought to public notice by Thomas Bolsover, a cutler of that town whose name has always been associated with the invention, c lO

No durable imitation of silver was at this time being made; the value of silver then was many times that of the present day, and the relative value of money was far higher. In 172 1-2 silver, with the then imposed duty, cost six shillings and a penny per ounce (New Standard). The " fashion " of it cost from eightpence to six shillings per ounce, while the usual cost of gilding was from two shillings and sixpence per ounce. In comparing these figures with the value of silver in the previous century the following extract from Pepys' Diary is of interest. He mentions receiving a present of a pair of flagons costing ;^ioo: "they are said to be worth five shillings an ounce, and the fashion of them five shillings an ounce more — some say ten shillings an ounce for the fashion. I am sorry to see the fashion worth so much and the silver come to no more." One can hardly help observing here that much the same idea prevails at the present day, many buyers of silver apparently grudging the cost "of fashion" as compared with weight. The cost of silversmiths' work at about the time of Bolsover's discovery is well shown in the invoices of the day, some of which have been preserved: among them those of Paul de Lamerie, the famous silversmith of London, who was renowned for his fine workmanship, and flourished during the earlier half of the Eighteenth Century.

Some interesting items may here be quoted : " A cruett frame, castors, branches and saucers," for example, costs 6s. A^d. per oz. for the silver, and ^s. 6d. per oz, for the " fashion," while the engraving of the entire piece is priced at ^5 lOi". To this were added eight " Cristal Bottles," costing lOi'. each, and a "tronk" or box for the "cruett" at £t, \os. (According to the custom of the day the mint price of the silver was first quoted, then the fashion, engraving, etc.; this custom is still in use to-day in some cases.)

" A lardge silver Cupp and Cover " is priced at 6s. ^d. per oz., but it was fashioned at i8<^.; the fashion of "Dessert Knifs, Spoons and Forks " was apparently reckoned at from 2)S- to 55. a piece, the " Knif blades " being added at 2S. each. " A Terrinne " could be supplied at the same cost as the Cupp and Cover, and fashioned for i^d., but the fashion of Ladles or " Ragoos Spoons" amounted to 2S. per oz.

From other invoices may be gathered the cost of various repairs: " Planishing and burnishing a little Bason," " Supplying a new Spout to Coffee Pot," and " Burnishing a lardge Tea Pot." An entire service for the dressing table cost about ^400 ; some of the separate items being: " A glass, a comme (comb) box, candlesticks, a juelle tronk " (with lock to juelle tronk), and, finally, " A tronk for all ye dressing plate."

From the above figures it is easy to realize that, in view of the growing desire for improved^ domestic utensils and tableware, the new substitute for sterling silver was of the greatest importance; " treene " vessels had been superseded by pewter; pewter was, in "genteel" circles, being replaced by "China ware," yet the artistic imitation of silver, suggested by the Sheffield cutler, attracted speedy attention because of the urgent and general demand for some style of tableware, both inexpensive and durable. Its popularity lasted until superseded by " Electro-plating," an easier and cheaper production, which came into use about the beginning of the reign of Queen Victoria.

It might not be out of place here to note the method of making solid silver ware at this period. All domestic articles — such as tankards (with and without covers), coffee pots, teapots (rarely made in silver as early as this), soup tureens, sauce tureens, sauce boats, and similar globular vessels, were what is called in the trade " raised," i.e., the body of the article was raised into shape from the flat sheet of metal by the skilful and practised use of mallets and hammers applied to suitable stakes or " steadies," the sheet itself having been previously flattened from an ingot of silver, and stretched out to the required thickness and size. The great art lay in shaping from the flat sheet vessels of every conceivable shape and of the most varied dimensions; in the shaping moreover the craftsman must not fail to carry the same thickness of metal right to the top of his work, or, when necessary, he must arrange a rim of extra thickness at the bottom or top of the vessel according to its construction.

Take as an example the common tankard of this date : while it may appear to the uninitiated that the bottom has been made from a separate piece, it has never really been separate from the sides, though these may be at right angles to the bottom. It is seldom that a seam is to be found on the body of any article of plate at this period, despite the extreme difficulty of raising some designs — the tankard even not calling for the exercise of the greatest skill when "raised" as described on the preceding page. (See Chapter IV on " Raising Sheffield Plate.")

The mountings and members were usually made in quite a different fashion; they were "Cast," i.e., the molten silver was run into sand moulds. The designs in these moulds were made from wooden patterns in much the same way as is done in similar work at the present day. Such mouldings consisted of the mounts, handles, feet, and ornamentations on the articles enumerated above, though in some instances, such as candlesticks, the whole piece might be cast.

In making up Sheffield Plate the process of casting was impossible, but "raising" was employed under slightly different conditions. The earliest Sheffield Platers naturally employed the established methods of making metal wares and altered them to suit their new materials; and it is exceedingly interesting to observe how in their turn the processes used for the manufacture of Sheffield Plate influenced the making of the contemporary solid silver wares.

Chapter III

THE DISCOVERY IN SHEFFIELD H EE FIELD had long been famous for its cutlery; it is alluded to even by Chaucer, and the trade was undoubtedly

^ — ^ of great importance in Queen Elizabeth's reign, for the then Earl of Shrewsbury made to Lord Burleigh a present of a " case of Sheffield whittles, being such fruictes as his pore countrey afforded with fame throughout the realm." The cutlers of London were by some considered to rival those of the Yorkshire city, but the latter were always able to maintain their position, and Sheffield continued to owe its growth and prosperity to its knives. The Cutlers' Company, which afterwards played some part in the plating industry, was founded in 1624; and cutlery continued to be the staple business of the city until the middle of the Eighteenth Century.

The population of Sheffield about the year 1600 was 2,207, "of which number," says a contemporary writer, "there are 725 which are not able to live without the charity of their neighbours : these are all begging poor"! In 1736 Sheffield could boast 10,000 inhabitants; a century later, the number had increased to 45,000, and the city had earned fame, not only for cutlery, but for silver and plated goods, and for works in iron and steel.

It cannot be denied that the development of the city of Sheffield was largely due to the discovery of the process known as "Sheffield Plating." It happened in 1742, that, in a garret of what was then called Tudor House, Thomas Bolsover, "an ingenious mechanic" (as he is styled in Hunter's " Hallamshire "), was repairing a badly cracked piece of plate — a knife, according to some authorities. Mr. Stratford, of Sheffield, states that he used a penny to "cramp" up the join, and accidentally allowed his work to become overheated, when he found that the silver and copper had "fused" so firmly together as to be inseparable. It soon occurred to Bolsover that this accident might be turned to good purpose, and after some experiments he succeeded in producing an imitation of silver by beating out a thin layer of silver and placing it on a copper foundation, then fusing the two metals together by the action of heat.