Within the past few years Sheffield plate, or copper rolled plate,
as it used to be called, has been gaining in popularity among
collectors. The term "plate" is usually applied to solid silverware, so that the
term may seem a trifle misleading to the novice.
Sheffield plate was the plated ware used by our grandmothers and
great-grandmothers for the same purposes that plated ware is used for
nowadays-as "second best," or by families who could not afford solid
silver. Chiefly for this reason it has not been highly esteemed until
recently, and was seldom valued as an heirloom. Many a fine piece has gone to
the junk-dealer's because it was "out of fashion," or the silver had
begun to wear off. Some fifty years ago great quantities of it were
melted up for the silver mounts, especially in England. For this reason
Sheffield plate, while once common and comparatively inexpensive, is now
rare enough to stimulate the collector's desire for acquisition.
The supply of pieces in good condition is limited, and the market
prices have risen accordingly. If you have any Sheffield plate, by all
means treasure it. Some of the best examples of Sheffield plate are now
in this country, much of it having been handed down from Revolutionary
days, when many a patriot's bride started housekeeping with Sheffield
plate, for want of solid silver.
There are two good reasons why this ware should not be condemned to
a low place in the antiquarian's esteem. In the first place, it was
made during a period when the silversmith's art was at its height, and the
plated ware was made in designs similar to' the solid metal, and with
the same care in workmanship. In grace and beauty of line, proportion,
and ornamentation, Sheffield plate suffers little in com parison with
the finer ware. Nothing in plated ware has since been made that can
surpass it. This is due partly to the greater care taken by the old
designers and manufacturers in their work, and partly because the modern
process, being far more rapid, does not permit such individuality and
finish.
This suggests Sheffield plate's second claim to distinction. Like
old pewter, it is a ware which belongs strictly to the past. The process
has been almost entirely discontinued. Its manufacture began about the
middle of the eighteenth century, rose to a great industry, and died
out as suddenly after 1850. It flourished for almost exactly a
century.
Sheffield plate differs from all other plated ware in that the
plating was done on the sheet-metal before the article was shaped. Before
and since then plating of various sorts has been applied only to the
finished piece, as in our electroplating process. Moreover, the plating was
done on copper, while modern base metal is usually composed of an
amalgam of copper, nickel, and zinc.
Perhaps it would be better not to speak of Sheffield as plated ware
at all, in order to keep the difference quite distinct. Plated ware, as
we know it, is less than seventy-five years old. To speak of Sheffield
plate as plated ware is likely to cause an underestimation of its
value. The difference will be explained more fully further on.
Furthermore, it is possible for the collector to secure examples of
early Georgian and so-called Queen Anne work in Sheffield plate, while
the rarity and high money value of silverware of that period make its
acquisition extremely difficult. Sheffield plate, historically and
artistically, is as worthy of a place beside old china and old mahogany as
is old silverware.
To appreciate the value and unique character of Sheffield plate, a
brief sketch of its history and process of manufacture may prove
helpful.
In 1742 one Thomas Solsover of Sheffield, England, described in the
histories as an "ingenious mechanic," accidentally fused some silver
and copper while repairing a knife. He began experimenting, seeking for a
method of plating copper with silver for the manufacture of small
articles. In 1743, together with Joseph Wilson, he set up a factory for the
manufacture of buckles, snuff-boxes, and knifehandles.
Joseph Hancock soon got hold of the secret and, perfecting it,
demonstrated that it was possible to imitate the finest and most richly
embossed silverware. Settling in Sheffield, he started the manufacture of
all sorts of domestic pieces. Beginning modestly with horse-power, he
later added water power for the rolling process. Other manufacturers
followed his example, and Sheffield plate soon began to replace pewter on
the tables of the English middle classes. Altogether we know of
twenty-three important manufacturers of this ware.
The industry flourished until the middle of the nineteenth century,
and so few pieces of copper rolled plate were made after that time that
they need not concern the collector. Electroplating is said to have
been practised in a small way as early as, 1832, when one Spencer of
Liverpool discovered a process of electrically depositing silver on copper.
Its discovery, or invention, is also attributed to a medical student of
Rotherham, near Sheffield. At all events, the new process was patented
on March 25, 1840. By 1850 the new ware was on the market everywhere
and the industry had been revolutionized.
A brief description of how Sheffield plate was made will show how
widely it differs from modern plated ware, which for the most part is
some sort of white metal or alloy, dipped, washed, or electroplated after
the piece has been formed.
First a brick-shaped ingot of copper, slightly alloyed with brass,
an inch to an inch and a half thick and some two inches wide, was filed
or planed smooth and its face made chemically clean. On this was placed
a sheet of silver of fine quality, also filed smooth and cleaned. This
piece of silver was of the same superficial area as the copper, but
only one-sixteenth to one-half inch thick. Iron or steel pieces were
placed to hold them together, and the whole was hammered tightly together
and firmly bound with wire. The edges of copper and silver were touched
with borax and water, and the metal was placed in the furnace. As soon
as the edges began to fuse it was quickly withdrawn and put into a cold
pickle of water and spirits of salt or vitriol.
The silver and copper were then inseparably joined, and,
furthermore, could be placed cold between the rollers of a rolling-mill and
flattened out to any degree of fineness without changing the relative
proportions of silver and copper.
After the plate had been rolled into thin sheetmetal, it was cut
into the required shape and then hammered by hand into the form of cup or
plate or teapot. Before shaping, a solid silver shield was often
skilfully embedded to be engraved later with crest or coat of arms. Or,
according to another theory, thin, shield-shaped sheets of silver were
superimposed upon one another until a sufficient thickness was obtained for
engraving.
Of these copper plates, thinly coated with silver on one side, the
first Sheffield plate was made. The bottoms of trays, plates, etc., of
that period were finished with a zinc covering. For nearly sixty years
this process was changed but little. Then the silver coating was given
to both sides of the ware. Two blocks of silver were attached to the two
sides of the copper block, and the whole rolled into a sheet which was
worked in the same manner as solid silver. Some pieces, especially
cream-jugs, sugarbasins, and salt-cellars, were gilded inside, with a wash,
to imitate some of the silverware of that day. Coffee-pots, tea-urns,
etc., were sometimes tinned on the inside.
At the edges of the piece, where the sheet-metal was cut, the copper
showed, and a special finish, which is one of the characteristics of
Sheffield plate, was necessary. At first this consisted of a silver wire,
plain or twisted, soldered along the edge. Later a silver mount, more
or less elaborate, solid or filled with base metal, was made to fit the
piece and was soldered on instead of wire. In the most recent pieces
these mounts were so carefully joined and burnished on the wrong side as
well as the right side that a careful inspection is necessary to
discover the joint. All genuine Sheffield plate, however, is finished by one
of these methods at the edges.
At first articles in this ware were very plain; then came the demand
for ornamentation, and ingenious men met the demand. Very thin pieces
of sterling silver were cut and stamped with dies in exquisite forms.
These pieces were filled on the concave side with an alloy of lead and
tin, and the ornament thus made soldered on to the plain piece. The other
mounts, such as handles, feet, etc., were made in a similar manner.
Larger parts, such as covers, coffeepot noses, etc., were made from a
separate piece of Sheffield plate and soldered carefully in place. On the
more expensive pieces the mounts were of solid silver, and these are of
course the most valuable now.
Solid silver shields or squares, intended for the owner's monogram
or crest, are often found on the best pieces, embedded in a prominent
place. The deep outlining necessary for this engraving would otherwise
pierce through to the copper. Often these shields were so carefully
welded in, and age and wear have so united the surface, that they are almost
invisible. Breathing on the piece will occasionally disclose the
outlines. On tarnished pieces they sometimes show plainly. Look for the
shields at the middle of the least decorated portion of the tea- and
coffee-pots, at the middle of the front or back of dish-covers, over the taps
of urns, and at the center of trays, cake-baskets, etc. You will not
always find them, but it's an interesting search.
In addition to the mounts, ornamentation was gained by chasing and
engraving, especially on the nineteenth-century pieces. Deeply engraved
pieces are usually considered of greater value, because the silver
plate must be comparatively thick. Some of this engraving was very
beautiful.
Almost every kind of tableware, and other articles that were made in
silver from 1750 to 1850, were also made in Sheffield plate, and in
similar designs. Among the pieces that are popular with collectors are the
following: centerpieces or epergne stands bearing Sheffield plate or
glass fruit- and bonbonboats; large and small tea- and coffee-urns;
pierced and wirework baskets; cake- and fruit-baskets, pierced, chased, and
embossed; covered and uncovered meat-platters; candlesticks, some
straight and some beautifully branched; snuffer trays, often chased; single
bottle-stands, often pierced and chased; wine-coolers and ice-pails;
vases; bottlestands like casters; tureens for soup and sauce; covered
entree- and vegetable-dishes; plates, platters, trays, and salvers; mugs,
goblets, and tankards; small bonbon-dishes and salt-cellars, sometimes
pierced and bearing a glass lining; tea- and coffeepots; cream-jugs;
snuff-boxes.
