See also:

• SHEFFIELD
• SHEFFIELD, JOHN BAKER HOLROYD, 1ST EARL

SHEFFIELD See also:

• PLATE

PLATE  , the name applied to a variety of articles of domestic use or See also:

• ORNAMENT (Lat. ornare, to adorn)

ornament, made of See also:

• COPPER (symbol Cu, atomic weight 63.1, H=1, or 63.6, O = 16)

copper coated with See also:

• SILVER

silver by a See also:

• SPECIAL

special and now abandoned See also:

• PROCESS

process . Many of them were actually manufactured in See also:

• BIRMINGHAM

Birmingham, but as the See also:

• SECRET (Lat. secretum, hidden, concealed)

secret of producing the material was discovered and brought to perfection in See also:

• SHEFFIELD
• SHEFFIELD, JOHN BAKER HOLROYD, 1ST EARL

Sheffield, the name of that See also:

• TOWN

town was naturally connected with it, and thence transferred to articles constructed from it . In 1942 a workman named See also:

• THOMAS
• THOMAS (c. 1654-1720)
• THOMAS (d. 110o)
• THOMAS, ARTHUR GORING (1850-1892)
• THOMAS, CHARLES LOUIS AMBROISE (1811-1896)
• THOMAS, GEORGE (c. 1756-1802)
• THOMAS, GEORGE HENRY (1816-187o)
• THOMAS, ISAIAH (1749-1831)
• THOMAS, PIERRE (1634-1698)
• THOMAS, SIDNEY GILCHRIST (1850-1885)
• THOMAS, ST
• THOMAS, THEODORE (1835-1905)
• THOMAS, WILLIAM (d. 1554)

Thomas See also:

• BOLSOVER

Bolsover was mending the handle of a See also:

• KNIFE (0. E. cuff, a word appearing in different forms in many Teutonic languages, cf. Du. knijf, Ger. Kneif, a shoe-maker's knife, Swed. knif; the ultimate origin is unknown; Skeat finds the origin in the root of " nip," formerly " knip "; Fr. canif is a

knife made of silver and copper, when, See also:

• ACCIDENT
• ACCIDENT (from Lat. accidere, to happen)

accident-ally overheating it, he caused the metals to fuse and flow, and found that as a consequence the silver adhered to the copper as a thin coating . Being an intelligent See also:

• MAN
• MAN, ISLE OF (anc. Mona)

man, he perceived the commercial value of his See also:

• CHANCE (through the O. Fr. cheance, from the Late Lat. cadentia, things happening, from cadere, to fall out, happen; cf. " case ")

chance See also:

• DISCOVERY

discovery, and began the manufacture of articles which, with all the See also:

• APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance of silver, were both cheaper and stronger than those made of the pure See also:

• METAL
• METAL (through Fr. from Lat. metallum, mine, quarry, adapted from Gr. µATaXAov, in the same sense, probably connected with ,ueraAAdv, to search after, explore, µeTa, after, aAAos, other)

metal . He apparently, however, confined himself to applying the silver See also:

• DIRECT

direct to the See also:

• SURFACE

surface of the copper after the latter had been given the shape destined to it, and was thus limited to the See also:

• PRODUCTION (Lat. productionem, from producere, to pro-duce)

production of small articles such as See also:

• SNUFF (from " to snuff, " i.e. to inhale, to draw in through the nose; cf. Dutch snuf, scent, Ger. Schnupfen, a cold, catarrh, and Eng. " snuffle, " " sniff, " &c.)

snuff-boxes, knife handles, See also:

• TOILET

toilet articles, &c . It was reserved to See also:

• JOSEPH
• JOSEPH, COMTE DE (1785-1870)
• JOSEPH, FATHER (FRANCOIS LECLERC DU TREMBLAY) (1577-1638)

Joseph See also:

• HANCOCK
• HANCOCK, JOHN (1737–1793)
• HANCOCK, WINFIELD SCOTT (1824-1886)

Hancock to realize that by making the See also:

• PLATE

plate first and working it into the desired See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form afterwards he could almost indefinitely extend the possibilities of the material . The process in its final and highest development was as follows . The groundwork was a mixture of copper and See also:

• BRASS
• BRASS (O. Eng. braes)

brass, either metal alone having serious defects . This was See also:

• CAST (from the verb meaning " to throw "; the word is Scand. in origin, cf. Dan. kaste, and Swed. kasta; " cast " in Middle Eng. took the place of the A.S. weor pan, cf. Ger. werf en)

cast into an oblong See also:

• INGOT

ingot, 1 to 11 in. in thickness, 2; in. in breadth, and of a length regulated by the See also:

• SIZE

size of the plate desired . The surface of this was brought by planing, grinding and other means to the highest possible See also:

• PITCH
• PITCH, MUSICAL

pitch of smoothness and evenness . A See also:

• SHEET

sheet of silver of a finer quality than See also:

• STANDARD
• STANDARD, BATTLE OF THE

standard, ranging in thickness from 3~- in. to nearly 1 in. according to the quality aimed at, and of the same superficial extent as the copper See also:

• BAR
• BAR (0. Fr. barre, Late Lat. barra, origin unknown)
• BAR, CONFEDERATION OF
• BAR, FRANCOIS DE (1538-1606)
• BAR, THE

bar, was levelled and polished in the same way and accurately fitted to it, neither surface at any See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time being soiled by contact with the workman's fingers . A sheet of copper, rather smaller than the other two and h- in. thick was laid upon the silver, and on the See also:

• TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

top of all was added a piece of See also:

• IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron, 4 in. thick, 1 in. wide, and a little shorter than the three others, to protect them from the direct contact of the strong iron See also:

• WIRE (A.S. wir, a wire; cf. Swed. vire, to twist, M.H.G. wiere, a gold ornament, Lat. viriae, armlets, ultimately from the root wi, to twist, bind)

wire with which all were firmly See also:

• BOUND, or BOUNDARY (from O. Fr. bonde, Med. Lat. bodena or butina, a frontier line)

bound together .

The junction of the edges of the silver and copper-blend was treated with a See also:

• FLUX (Lat. fluxus, a flowing; this being also the meaning of the English term in medicine, &c.)

flux of See also:

• BORAX (sodium pyroborate or sodium biborate)

borax and the whole was submitted to the See also:

• HEAT (0. E. haktu, which like " hot," Old Eng. hat, is from the Teutonic type haita, hit, to be hot; cf. Ger. hitze, heiss; Dutch, hitte, heet, &c.)

heat of a See also:

• FURNACE

furnace until the silver was seen to be melting, when it was instantly removed, care being taken to avoid pressing upon the upper or See also:

• LOWER

lower surfaces, as the liquid silver in that See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case would have been squeezed out from between the two enclosing plates and the operation ruined . It was then See also:

• LEFT

left to cool, and after being thoroughly cleansed presented the appearance of a copper ingot with one silver See also:

• SIDE
• SIDE (mod. Eski Adalia)

side . This was passed again and again between gradually approximated rollers, with occasional See also:

• ANNEALING, HARDENING AND

annealing, until the desired thickness had been attained . The See also:

• GREAT

great See also:

• EXTENSION (Lat. ex, out ; tendere, to stretch)

extension of surface thus produced had the See also:

• DRAWBACK

drawback of exaggerating any small defect in the See also:

• UNION
• UNION (known locally as Union Hill and officially as Town of Union)

union of the two metals, increasing it to a See also:

• BLISTER (a word found in many forms in Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Blase; it is ultimately connected with the same root as in " blow," cf. " bladder ")

blister of an See also:

• INCH (O. Eng. ynce from Lat. uncia, a twelfthpart; cf. " ounce," and see As)

inch or more in See also:

• DIAMETER (from the Cr. &a, through, µErpov, measure)

diameter . It was, however, fortunately found easy to remedy this . The blister if unbroken washeated, pricked, and then rubbed level with a burnisher; if, as sometimes happened, the silver had flaked away it was replaced by coatings of pure See also:

• LEAF (O. Eng. leaf, cf. Dutch loof, Ger. Laub, Swed. lof, &c.; possibly to be referred to the root seen in Gr. Ma-eta, to peel, strip)

leaf silver rubbed in with a. burnisher . The plate when passed as flawless was cut into the desired form and moulded as far as possible into shape, the edges where necessary being soldered . At first only one surface of the copper was plated with silver and thus its usefulness was necessarily restricted, but it was a See also:

• SIMPLE

simple See also:

• MATTER

matter to apply the silver to both sides and thenceforward whatever was made in solid metal could be reproduced in plate, and See also:

• FIRM

firm after firm went into the business, ever and anon introducing further improvements . The possibility of See also:

• EMBOSSING

embossing the metal beyond a certain point without fracturing the coating of silver was got over by casting or stamping the raised ornament in silver, filling the hollows with a form of See also:

• PEWTER

pewter and soldering the result to the appropriate See also:

• PART

part of the See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general See also:

• DESIGN (Fr. desiin, drawing; Lat. designare, to mark out)

design . Another difficulty, the concealment of the inner core of copper which was seen as a thin red See also:

• LINE

line when a cut edge was exposed, was met about 1784 by See also:

• GEORGE
• GEORGE, 8TH MARQUESS OF TWEEDDALE (1787-1876)
• GEORGE, HENRY (1839—1897)
• GEORGE, LAKE
• GEORGE, SAINT (d. 303)

George Cadman, who adopted the practice of soldering on an edging, generally ornamented, of solid silver so as to See also:

• COVER (from the Fr. convert, from couvrir, to cover, Lat. cooperire)

cover the junction, and the presence of this is one of the trustworthy tests by which genuine Sheffield plate may be recognized . The labour of See also:

• ROLLING

rolling the metal by See also:

• HAND
• HAND (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Hand, Goth. handus)
• HAND, FERDINAND GOTTHELF (1786-185r)

hand was done away with about 1960, by the firm of Tudor, See also:

• LEADER, BENJAMIN WILLIAMS (1831– )

Leader & Sherburn, who first employed See also:

• HORSE (a word common to Teutonic languages in such forms as hors, hros, ros; cf. the Ger. ross)

horse-See also:

• POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power, and for more than See also:

• HALF

half a See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century the See also:

• TRADE (O. Eng. trod, footstep, from tredan, to tread; in M. Eng. the forms teed, trod and trade appear, the last in the sense of a beaten track)
• TRADE, BOARD OF

trade both in Sheffield and Birmingham continued to flourish . In 1736 there were under 10,000 inhabitants in the former See also:

• CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city; in 176o when See also:

• HORACE [QuINTus HORATIUS FLACCUS] (65-8 B.C.)

Horace See also:

• WALPOLE, HORATIO
• WALPOLE, SIR SPENCER (1839-1907)

Walpole passed through it, buying for two guineas a pair of candlesticks of the See also:

• LOCAL

local plate, which he thought " quite See also:

• PRETTY

pretty," and pronouncing it to be " one of the foulest towns in See also:

• ENGLAND
• ENGLAND, THE CHURCH OF

England," there were two-and-twenty thousand who remitted eleven thousand pounds a See also:

• WEEK (from A.S. wicu, Germanic *wikon, probably=change, turn)

week to See also:

• LONDON

London .

It would be impossible, were it desirable, to enumerate all the varieties of the articles turned out, or to overpraise the beauty and elegance of most of them . The designs were identical with those in favour with the See also:

• GOLD
• GOLD [symbol Au, atomic weight 195.7(H = 1),197.2(0 =16)]

gold- and silver-smiths of the See also:

• PERIOD
• PERIOD (Gr. irepioSos, a going or way round, circuit, aepi, round, and &Sis, way, road)

period, which was happily one when exceptionally See also:

• GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

• TASTE (from Lat. taxare, to touch sharply; tangere, to touch)

taste prevailed . The appreciation of See also:

• LIGHT

light and well-proportioned curves and the skilful employment of well-contrived pierced See also:

• WORK

work are conspicuous features . The success was, however, doomed to be See also:

• SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short lived and to come to an end as swiftly as it had grown up . In the See also:

• YEAR

year 1800 W . See also:

• CRUIKSHANK, GEORGE (1792–1878)

Cruikshank was already experimenting with a process of electro-plating, and in 1839 Mr See also:

• SPENCER
• SPENCER, HERBERT (1820-1903)
• SPENCER, JOHN CHARLES SPENCER, 3RD EARL (1782-1845)
• SPENCER, JOHNPOYNTZ SPENCER
• SPENCER, WILLIAM ROBERT (1769-1834)

Spencer in England, and in 1838 See also:

• PROFESSOR (the Latin noun formed from the verb profiteri, to declare publicly, to acknowledge, profess)

Professor M . H . See also:

• JACOBI, FRIEDRICH HEINRICH (1743-1819)
• JACOBI, JOHANN GEORG (1740-1814)
• JACOBI, KARL GUSTAV JACOB (1804-1851)

Jacobi (18(31—1894) in See also:

• RUSSIA
• RUSSIA (Rossiya)

Russia, working independently, succeeded in contriving methods which could be made commercially profitable . Two years later Messrs See also:

• ELKINGTON, GEORGE RICHARDS (1801-1865)

Elkington in London and M. de Ruolz of See also:

• PARIS
• PARIS (also called ALEXANDROS)
• PARIS, ALEXIS PAULIN (1800-x881)
• PARIS, BRUNO PAULIN GASTON (1839-1903)
• PARIS, FRANCOIS DE (169o-1727)
• PARIS, LOUIS PHILIPPE ALBERT
• PARIS, TREATIES OF (1814-1815)

Paris started in business on those lines, and the slower and consequently more costly manufacture at Sheffield and Birmingham rapidly died out . Of See also:

• RECENT

recent years old Sheffield plate after See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long neglect has come into See also:

• FASHION (adapted from Fr. facon, agon, Lat. factio, making, facere, to do or make)

fashion again, and genuine articles in good See also:

• CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition have greatly gone up in value, often exceeding in cost those of more See also:

• MODERN

modern date in See also:

• STERLING
• STERLING, ANTOINETTE (d. 1904)
• STERLING, JOHN (1806-1844)

sterling silver . Concurrently fraudulent See also:

• IMITATION (Lat. imitatio, from intitari, to imitate)

imitation has regrettably increased . In some cases the whole See also:

• OBJECT

object is a modern See also:

• REPRODUCTION

reproduction in electro-plate, but more often really old articles from which the See also:

• ORIGINAL

original plating has been worn off in course of time have been replated, both equally being in the eyes of the connoisseur' unworthy of serious See also:

• ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention and comparatively valueless .

The difference after a little experience is not difficult to detect, though inexpressible in words . The pressure to which the Sheffield plate was submitted produces a definite See also:

• COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour and texture which is absent from the surface produced by the See also:

• DEPOSIT (Lat. depositurn, from deponere, to lay down, to put in the care of)

deposit of silver in a liquid See also:

• MEDIUM

medium by See also:

• ELECTRICAL
• ELECTRICAL (or ELECTROSTATIC) MACHINE

electrical means, and the coat of silver is spread by the latter uniformly over the whole surface without a break, while in the former the junction between the embossed ornaments and the silver strips covering the cut edges may often be detected on careful examination . See Sheffield Plate by Bertie Wyllie; H . N . See also:

• VEITCH, JOHN (1829-1894)

Veitch, Sheffield Plate: its See also:

• HISTORY

history, manufacture and See also:

• ART

art (London, 1908) . (M .