Victorian Old Sheffield Plate Tray with Coat of Arms
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A Victorian Old Sheffield plate twin handled tray, maker's mark of R. Gainsford, engraved to the centre with a coat of arms and motto within a rococo cartouche on an elaborately chased ground and within gadrooned and flower cast borders, on claw and ball feet, width across handles 73 cm. Provenance: The property of a gentleman, Sydney
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- Sheffield Plate - Sheffield plate was the first commercially viable method of plating metal with silver. The method of plating was invented by Thomas Boulsover, a Sheffield Cutler, in 1743 and involved sandwiching an ingot of copper between two plates of silver, tightly binding it with wire, heating it in a furnace and then milling it out in to sheet, from which objects could be made.
Originally used by its inventor to make buttons, the potential of the material was quickly realised, and soon it was being used to fashion boxes, salvers and jugs, and not long after that candlesticks and coffee pots, and other traditional tableware.
Although there was a considerable saving in the amount of silver used, Old Sheffield Plate manufacture was more labour intensive than solid silver, meaning higher labour costs. This meant that Old Sheffield Plate was very much a luxury product, and only available to the very wealthy.
The thickness of the silver means that many 18th century Sheffield Plate pieces still have a good layer of silver, while electroplated pieces (EPNS), may have been replated several times over their lifetime. Where the silver has worn off the Sheffield plate the soft glow of the copper base can be seen underneath. However this is not an infallible guide that the piece is Sheffield Plate, as many EPNS items were also plated on to a copper base.
Most Sheffield plate items are unmarked, whereas most elecroplated items display manufacturers names or marks, quality indications such as "A1", "EP", together with pattern or model numbers.
Sheffield plate was made commercially between 1750 and 1850. - Victorian Period - The Victorian period of furniture and decorative arts design covers the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. There was not one dominant style of furniture in the Victorian period. Designers used and modified many historical styles such as Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, English Rococo, Neoclassical and others, although use of some styles, such as English Rococo and Gothic tended to dominate the furniture manufacture of the period.
The Victorian period was preceded by the Regency and William IV periods, and followed by the Edwardian period, named for Edward VII (1841 ? 1910) who was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India for the brief period from 1901 until his death in 1910. - Cartouche - An ornamental panel in the form of of a shield, oval or rectangular scroll with curling edges. It may be carved into the back of a chair or the top of a sideboard, or present on a piece of silver or jewellery, and contain the initials of the original owner, heraldic symbols, or some other inscription, such as the details of a presentation.
In ceramics the term defines the central area of a vase or similar with a decorative border in one of the shapes above, into which a decorative scene or figures have been painted. - Gadrooning - A series of lobes usually as a border. In furniture gadrooning is found as carved decoration around the edges of table tops in the Chippendale and Jacobean style furniture. Gadrooning is also found as decoration on the rims of silver and ceramics.
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