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Silvermine - guide to english silver Category: Agriculture and Industry > Silver terms Date & country: 04/09/2008, UK Words: 155

Régence
Not properly applicable to English silver, though the style was brought to England in the early years of the 18thC. Régence is a French decorative influence that made use of surface enrichment with diaperwork, scalework, flowerheads, scrolls and masks formally arranged; often interpreted by flat chasing or repoussé chasing in low relief.

Wickering
Plaited split withies (willow) used to insulate the handles of jugs, kettles, coffee pots and other vessels used for hot liquids.

Water-leaf
A stylised leaf shape especially popular as chased or applied decoration on neoclassical silver and popular well into the 19thC. Also applied to water lily leaves.

Volute
A spiral scroll as used in Greek architecture, usually with two scrolls placed at either end of a flat section. Sometimes twisted.

Trefoil
A three-leafed shape.

Vermeil
Gilding of silver or bronze in the French manner to achieve a reddish colour.

Vitruvian scroll
A regular wave-like scroll ornament much used in neoclassical silver.

Toy
A term used to describe smallwares such as buttons, buckles and the like.

Touchstone
A black jasper or flinty slate (later replaced by Wedgwoods black Jasperware pottery) used for testing gold and silver by rubbing the metal on the stone and comparing the streak with that made by needles of known fineness. The method was inaccurate and was replaced by a chemical method of assaying c.1840 which in turn was replaced by the Gay-Lussac process of

Touch
In early records, the Touch indicated the standard of fineness with reference to the Touchstone. Later the term came to be applied also to the marks struck on the gold and silver by the assayer.

Tontines
A group of silverwares (and in one instance, a piece of gold) recording the names of subscribers to a loan, together with their date of death and sometimes also their ages. The last survivor inherited the whole income from an annuity based on a scheme by the Italian banker Lorenzo Tonti who devised the scheme whereby subscribers to a loan or fund shared the proceeds among the survivors.

Tine
The prong of a fork.

Tolerance
The permitted deviation from the standard fineness of a precious metal for which allowance was made during assay, largely because the old touchstone methods of testing were inaccurate.

Tankard
A mug with a hinged cover, usually for beer. More

Thumbpiece
Sometimes called a billet, the cast projection above the hinge of a tankard, jug or pot.

Strapwork
Form of decoration resembling strips of cut and curling leather. Also used to describe the pierced spine of silver decoration applied to the wooden or leather-covered handles of coffee and chocolate pots c.1690 to 1710.

Swags
Bunches of fruit, flowers or foliage, often arranged as festoons or garlands, and engraved or chased. Popular on 16thC silver, the style was revived during the rococo period and re-introduced more formally during the neoclassical period.

Standish
Early term for an inkstand, usually fitted with an inkwell and sand box and, until the mid 18thC, often with a bell.

Sterling
The minimum permitted standard for silver in Britain, allowing 18dwt. of base metal (usually copper) to the pound Troy or 925 parts per 1000 pure silver (92.5%) to harden it.

Stamping
A relief ornament produced by hammering the metal from the back over dies. About the middle of the 18thC die-stamping was developed, particularly in Sheffield and Birmingham, to produce candlesticks, vases, baskets and coasters.

Snuffer
An instrument of scissor form with a box at the end, for trimming candle wicks; a redundant form after the invention of the self-consuming wick at the end of the 18thC.

Spinning
A method of working metal using a long handled tool and working the metal over a shaped chuck rotating in a lathe. Used for making tea and coffee pots, casters, jugs, bowls, etc. in the 18thC.

Skillet
English medieval term for a saucepan with a round bowl, three feet and a long handle.

Sinking
The first stage in making a piece of silver by hand. A flat sheet of silver is placed over a depression and hammered in to a bowl shape prior to being turned over and placed over a stake for raising.

Silver-gilt
Silver plated with a thin layer of gold (see: parcel-gilt)

Shagreen
Originally the skin of the ass (from the Persian 'saghari', French 'chagrin'), a leather covered with indentations formed by rubbing seeds over the moist skin and rubbing them in. Much used for scabbards.

Sheffield Plate
Method invented by Thomas Boulsover of Sheffield c.1743 of fusing a layer of sterling silver to a sheet of copper by heating and rolling the two together. The introduction of Electroplating spelled the end of the Sheffield plate trade which was virtually extinct by 1845. More

Sconce
The socket for a candle at the top of a candlestick, often with a detatchable nozzle inside it. Also a branched candlestick with an oval or elongated, polished or mirrored, back-plate fixed to a wall.

Salver
A tray or plate, sometimes footed, for serving food or drink; often with a moulded border and decorated with an enraved coat of arms in the centre. More

Rococo
Probably derived from the French 'rocaille' (pebble work) and certainly French in inspiration, probably due to the influence of Huguenot craftsmen. The rococo style consisted of motifs of shells, seaweed, corals, mermaids, shellfish and other marine themes in asymmetrical display combined with scrolls and double curves. It was in fashion between c.1730 and c.1760. Much of the finest rococo silv...

Repoussé
The process of embossing metal from the back by hammering domed punches into simple shapes, then giving definition and detail from the front by chasing.

Regency
A loose description of the taste of grandiose and usually gilded silver made from c.1790 to c.1820 - the period of the Prince Regent's influential patronage to the London silver trade, and especially Rundell, Bridge and Rundell. The actual Regency lasted from 1811 to 1820 when George IV succeeded.

Reeding
A moulding consisting of two or more parallel half-flutes. Sometimes combined with a ribbon-like motif traversing the reeded bands to form borders such as reed-and-tie and reed-and-ribbon.

Raising
The method of making hollow ware by hammering and forming a sheet of silver over a raising stake.

Pricket
The spike on which a candle was stuck before the introduction of the socket-type candleholder. Very rare in silver apart from the very large ecclesiastical candlesticks.

Quilting
A rare form of chased ornament, resembling waves, used on tureens, candlesticks, etc., from c.1750 to c.1760.

Pricked
A description of the dotted style used for simple initials, dates and inscriptions in the 16thC and 17thC. Chiefly found on spoons, small cups, dishes and other pieces intended for presentation at Christenings and weddings; presumably carried out by shopkeepers who were not trained engravers.

Pouncing
An overall punched decoration, similar to matting but usually rather coarser, used from the early 17thC onwards.

Porringer
A small shallow circular vessel with one or two flat handles, in silver or pewter, found in pewter from the mid 16thC. Also a deeper vessel, often covered, with two scroll handles, occurring mainly in silver, but sometimes in base metal and pottery from the mid to late 17thC. More

Plate
Generic term for wrought silver and gold, derived from the Spanish word 'plata' meaning silver. Not to be confused with Sheffield Plate

Planishing
The first stage in finishing the surface of plate before polishing, the removal of hammer marks which occur during raising is achieved with the use of a special flat-headed hammer.

Piercing
Cut decoration. Until c.1760 it was done with very sharp chisels and was often enhanced with engraving. Examination of the cut edges shows how the metal has been slightly turned in as the chisel presses into the metal.

Pewter
An alloy consisting principally of tin and lead or bismuth. The Pewterer's Company required that an alloy of not less than 94% tin and 6% of other metals be used for the finest quality English pewter.

Patina
The softened lustre of polished silver naturally resulting from usage, caused by oxidation of the surface by way of minute scratches.

Pennyweight
A measure of Troy weight, the twentieth part of an ounce troy, equivalent to 24 grains. Usually abbreviated - dwt.

Parcel-gilt
Silver which is gilded in selected areas. see: gilding

Patera
Circular ornament in low relief based on the classical libation dish, much used in 18thC neo-classical silver where it was also adapted to oval outlines. Often enriched with fluting, foliage, etc.

Ovolo
An oval convex moulding placed vertically. Popular in 16thC stamped

Nozzle
The socket with a flange, usually removeable, to hold the candle in the 'stick and to help prevent grease from running down the stem.

Ogee
An architectural moulding consisting of a double curve, convex above and concave below.

Mullet
An heraldic term for a five pointed star.

Niello
A black compound of copper, silver and lead or sulphur, lead and mercury used to fill engraved detail. Mainly used in Continental silver for enhancing scrollwork designs.

Muffineer
A small plain caster, found during the late 17thC and early 18thC in silver and brass and often with a scroll handle to the side.

Moresque
A linear decoration, popular during the mid 16thC and composed of scrolling stylized foliage. Derived from Near Eastern art and similar to the Arabesque but less tightly arranged.

Monteith
A cooler for wine glasses, resembling a punch bowl but with a notched rim to suspend the glasses by their feet cooling in iced water. First found c.1680 and fashionable for about 40 years. More

Molinet
A long stirring rod inserted through the aperature on the top of a chocolate pot to whisk the chocolate into a frothy beverage. Projecting flanges, usually pierced, make the lower part resemble a battle mace.

Matting
A series of punch marks applied evenly and close together to form an overall matt textured pattern. Often used to contrast highly polished areas.

Mazarine
A flat or almost flat plate fitting into a large oval dish and pierced for the purpose of straining off excess water from fish, common in the mid to late 18thC and often decorated with elaborate engraving.

Magnetic plate
A form of electroplating developed by J. Prime of Birmingham in 1844 using a magnetic machine to deposit gold, silver and copper.

Mask
Decorative motif of a human, bird or animal head, often grotesque. Popular as applied decoration and for side handles with ring ends on punch bowls and the like.

Latten
A yellow, copper based alloy similar to brass.

Maker's mark
The mark officially registered at an assay office pertaining to a maker, firm or sponsor. More

Lambrequin
A deeply scalloped fringe-like ornament common in late 17thC French decorative arts introduced to England by Daniel Marot.

Krater
An art-historical term for a two handled vase of classical form. Also known as a crater.

Knop
A small boss or knob protruding from the stem of a cup or candlestick, or the finial on a cup, pot or spoon.

Knurl
A simple ridged ornament, sometimes imitating ropework, used on less expensive wares instead of using applied wires and mounts.

Knife-box
An upright box with a sloped lid fitted with slots to accommodate knives, and sometimes spoons or forks. Usually of wood, marquetry, shagreen or japanned ware sometimes with silver fittings.

Kitchen
A type of tea urn with a lamp or heating iron and a spigot or tap. A term used by Matthew Boulton in his catalogues to describe his plated urns.

Kitchen pepper
A small spice dredger or caster, usually with a handle. Also known as a pepper box.

Jolly boat
Type of double wine bottle or decanter stand in the form of a shallow boat used by the Royal Navy. Often of leather, they were fashionable during the Napoleonic wars.

Incuse
A mark simply stamped or hammered in below the surface of the metal. Since such punches were cut proud of the die, they were easily damaged and although they were used by outworkers to mark small pieces, their use in the duty marks of 1784 - 1786 was soon superceeded by a punch which gave a cameo impression and both the punch and the piece being struck were less liable to damage.

Husk
A decorative motif especially popular during the neo-classical period consisting of repeating bell shapes based on a wheat husk.

Huguenot
French protestants who were reluctantly tolerated after the Edict of Nantes in 1598 which gave them religious freedom until the Edict was revoked by Louis XIV in 1685.The revocation caused a flood of exiles to the British Isles, the Low countries, the Baltic States and Russia. Many goldmiths of French extraction were allowed to settle in England and the best known Huguenot families include: Willau...

Hollow ware
A generic term for any vessel produced by raising, casting, stamping or spinning. It includes any form of pot or other vessel, casters and even candlesticks and waiters.

Hob-nob
To drink together. The term is found in 18thC inventories to describe pairs of small waiters which presumably were used to hand glasses of drink.

Helmet ewer
A type of ewer reminiscent of an inverted Roman helmet, with an ovoid body on a low stem; particularly favoured by Huguenot silversmiths.

Hanoverian
A plain flatware pattern with the terminals turning upwards toward the bowl (as opposed to Old English in which the end curves downwards). Made from c.1710 to c.1775, the pattern was often engraved with crests, armorials or initials on the end, the spoons and forks being laid with the

Hallmark
The official mark struck on a piece of silver or gold by an assay office or guild as a guarantee of it's standard of purity. So named from its original use at Goldsmiths' Hall in London.

Hanap
Medieval term for a drinking cup or bowl, the term has also been used by some writers for standing cups. The term derives through middle English from the Anglo Saxon 'hnaepp'.

Guilloche
A running spiral ornament composed of two or more ribbons or bands twisted one over the next, sometimes enclosing small rosettes or wheel-like motifs.

Grotesque
Fantastic human or animal forms used as decoration, engraved, chased or modelled. Often associated with intertwining scrollwork, flowers and foliage to produce bizarre or extravagant motifs.

Goldsmith
A term applied without distinction to craftsmen in gold and silver, and in modern times perpetuated by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in the City of London, originally the trade guild of the craftsmen.

Gilding
The process of coating silver with a thin layer of gold. Until the introduction of electrolytic gilding in the 1860's the effect was achieved by applying an amalgum of gold and mercury to a piece and then driving off the mercury with heat. This was an extremely dangerous process which accounted for the very high prices charged by gilders and the scarcity of craftsmen prepared to carry out the w...

Garnish
An old term for a set of dishes or plates (usually pewter) and of services made en suite.

German silver
A white alloy of nickel, copper and zinc. Used as a base metal for late-period fused plate, the alloy was said to have originated in China where it had been used from very early times. Also known as Argentine.

Fluting
Decoration imitating the vertical channelling of classical columns, resembling a musical flute cut in two.

Frosting
An acid treatment giving a slightly roughened surface. Popular during the 19thC.

Gadrooning
A lobed border of stamped or convex curves, either vertical or slanting to left or right. A popular kind of border from the late 17thC onwards.

Flatware
The proper term for all flat tableware - spoons, forks, slices, scoops, casters etc. - that does not have a cutting edge but is used for scooping or parting food. More

Flagon
A tall covered pouring vessel with a handle, usually with a cylindrical or pear-shaped form.

Flat-chasing
A technique for the surface decoration of metal, resembling engraving but produced with a hammer and punch which does not involve the removal of any metal.

Finial
Ornament placed at the top of a cover or corner of a pediment.

Fish-skin
The tanned and treated skin of the shark or ray, which has spiny scales which are rubbed down to produce a roughened surface. Usually dyed black, it was used during the 17thC and 18thC for canteens and knife cases. Sometimes incorrectly known as shagreen.

Filigree
Work composed of fine wires, coiled and assembled into open panels. Probably originating in the Orient, it became popular in Holland during the 17thC. Most English filigree-work of that time is probably the work of immigrant craftsmen.

Festoon
A garland or drapery motif arranged in pendulant curves and often with a knot or ribbon at either end.

Feather-edge
A slightly curved repeating pattern of cuts using the same technique as Bright-cut engraving. First used from about 1700, it was chiefly used as a border decoration on flatware and cutlery but was also used on wine labels and small boxes.

Etching
Form of surface decoration in which a pattern is eaten into the surface of the metal by acid. Used during the second half of the 19thC to produce engraved designs at less cost.

Epergne
The English term, of uncertain origin, for a table centrepiece, usually of silver, composed of branches, baskets, bowls, dishes and candle branches. Popular during the last half of the 18thC.

Embossing
Decoration worked from the back of the piece to bring up bosses and other relief shapes. Usually further definition of the embossed area is needed and this is done from the front with repoussé work.

Engraving
Surface decoration of metal made by cutting fine V-shaped grooves with a sharp tool. Most commonly used in heraldic decoration, the technique can produce a delicacy of line akin to drawing.