Silversmithing

A Contemporary Guide to Making

Brian Hill

• Publisher: Crowood
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781847976161
• Topic: Conception
• Subtopic: Arts décoratifs

As well as promoting the traditional origins of handmaking craft skills, this lavish book explains the latest techniques and opportunities that exist for today's designer silversmith. It emphasizes the importance of acquiring fundamental skills as a basis for creating stunning and innovative designs, and illustrates this with fabulous case studies from leading silversmiths. Written by two experienced designer craftsmen, this book takes a fresh and exciting approach by converting craft theory into visual language that informs, educates and inspires you to try a new technique, extend your skills and develop your own personal direction.Topics covered include: a comprehensive account of manufacturing techniques; the cultural and historical context of the making and crafting of silverware; profiles of designers in handmaking, production and technology, and practical hands-on advice throughout, with world-class examples of surface decoration and specialist aspects of the craft. An in-depth and inspirational guide to 21st century silversmithing, aimed at all craftsmen - silversmiths, metalworkers, designers and jewellers. Lavishly illustrated with 594 colour illustrations.

CHAPTER ONE

HISTORY, HALLMARKING AND ASSAY

History – an introduction

The central objective of this section is to draw attention to some of the outstanding craftsmanship, creative and technical skills in work that has been crafted and manufactured in past generations.

There are countless fantastic pieces of silversmithing from history that can inspire, inform and educate us, and this great asset should be a constant source of inspiration and reference for any silversmith who aspires to be a designer and maker of note. To this end, and to help get a good perspective and understanding of our silversmithing roots, we have focused on a selection of historical pieces that are part of The Goldsmiths’ Company silver collection.

The writing that accompanies the images below is structured in two ways: the opening description of the pieces takes a contemporary angle and includes important and interesting details, facts and information; the main body of text focuses on a craftsman’s summary and analysis of the making, skills and craftsmanship involved in each of the specific pieces. This approach gives an unusual and welcome scrutiny, attention and focus to work that is in the excellent/outstanding category, and therefore helps us to reflect on the astonishing examples of craftsmanship that are available for us to research, admire, respect, record and measure.

The quality of work described in this chapter also needs to be placed in the context of the limited tools and equipment that were available, and the lifestyle and working conditions of craftsmen back in the early eighteenth century, although these would have improved and developed over time. They certainly didn’t have anything like the vast array of tools, equipment and technology that we have around us today, and this only serves to heighten our respect and admiration for the work they produced, the technical and artistic challenges they mastered, and the incredible standards that were attained.

In our study of these pieces there are many examples of silver gilt finishes, synonymous of the periods covered. Apart from the obvious decorative enrichment, this process also protected silver surfaces from oxidation, hence reducing the frequency of cleaning. Silver gilt is a process of applying gold by electroplating.

Monteith bowl by Edmund Pearce, 1709

Monteith bowls were developed at the end of the seventeenth century as a way of chilling glasses, important when serving fashionable cooling drinks such as punch. They were filled with iced water and early examples had simple, notched rims which held glasses upside-down by the foot so that the bowl of each glass was submerged and the glasses, which were expensive to replace, didn’t bump into each other.

George Ravenscroft invented lead glass at the end of the seventeenth century. Glasses were expensive and were washed during meals to be re-used because of their value. By the beginning of the eighteenth century the rims of these bowls had become highly decorative, like this example, which features ornate scrolls, dolphins and satyr masks. The fluting found on the body of this Monteith bowl is also typical. The technique would not only have been easier to carry out in the softer Britannia silver, the standard that was compulsory between 1697 and 1720, but would also have made the bowls stronger. According to a contemporary writer, the name ‘Monteith’ comes from ‘a fantastical Scot called “Monsieur Monteigh” who wore a cloak with scalloped edges’. His fame didn’t last, but the bowls remained popular into the 1720s.

Monteith bowl by Edmund Pearce, 1709. Size: Height 28cm × Width 37cm (H 11" × 14.5"); Weight: 4,227gms (136 troy oz).

Monteith bowl (detail).

This Monteith bowl shows some fine skills, ultimate control and incredible detail through carefully crafted chasing work, transforming the hand-hammered generic bowl into a refined, more delicate and attractive piece of silverware. The hallmark of hand hammerwork is in plentiful supply on this piece and such control and execution allows you to easily see and appreciate this lovely work. Because of its design, the craftsman’s work is also apparent on the inside of the bowl, therefore increasing the aesthetics and visual power of the piece.

The chasing sections on the rim of the bowl have been crafted separately and then applied; not only do these decorative additions beautifully complement and balance the design, they also contribute to the strength of the rim and support the drinking glasses that would be positioned around it. The strength of the rim was important in this instance because it is a detachable section and consequently more prone to damage and abuse. Without the decorative rim in place the vessel can be used as an ordinary bowl and therefore serve a number of different functions. The base detail has been chased and modelled, the pattern providing both strength and authority to the piece but also lightly reflecting up into the main body of the bowl, offering greater visual qualities of reflective illusion to the piece.

The handles were modelled, probably in wood, and sand cast in two sections. Light chasing, almost mimicking that of engraved cut lines, is also present above the main body flutes and allows the stronger detail to blend and fade into the bowl’s body.

The Monteith bowl is a marvellous example of how applied decoration can contribute positively to the visual, aesthetic and structural qualities of large-scale silversmithing, with the added value of seeing this detail on both the inside and outside of the design. The modelling, light chasing/repoussé work and engraving give further refinement and these aspects collectively make this strong bowl more attractive, desirable and appealing.

Chocolate pot by Joseph Ward, 1719. Size: Height 30cm × Width 18cm (H 12” × 7”); Weight: 1,514gms (49 troy oz).

Chocolate pot by Joseph Ward, 1719

Drinking chocolate arrived in England in the mid-seventeenth century, around the same time as two other exotic hot drinks, tea and coffee. It was the most expensive of the three beverages, and the most complicated to make. Early recipes call for chocolate ‘cakes’ from the Americas to be ground up with other ingredients like milk, claret, vanilla and eggs. The vessels that were developed to hold this elegant drink often had a hinged finial on the lid which allowed a rod to be inserted to stir the mixture. By the early eighteenth century both chocolate and coffee pots were tall and tapering in form. This example follows what is sometimes known as the ‘geometric style’, popular in England between the 1680s and 1730s. The octagonal section complements the function of the pot perfectly: the angles are not so sharp that they become susceptible to damage, and the number of sides means that the spout and handle can be placed opposite each other.

The clean lines and an uncluttered appearance of this domestic and very functional piece from the early eighteenth century disguise how demanding it is to construct such a design. This type of domestic silverware calls for a very different set of skills compared to hand raising a...