Sheffield plate, English, ca. 1760

Urn-shaped, foot and cover moulded; handles finishing in heart-shaped plaques; fluted cone-shaped knob to cover.

The Wolseley Bequest

The early Sheffield Plate manufacturers frequently marked their products. Sometimes they incorporated the manufacturer's name in full but often it was only a monogram containing their initials. During the first twenty years that the industry flourished, there is clear evidence, as in the case of this cup and cover, that makers adroitly contrived to stamp their articles in such a way that the marks bore a superficial resemblance to those found on sterling silver.

This practice continued until 1773 when the silversmiths in both Birmingham and Sheffield petitioned Parliament for permission to establish their own assay offices. The Goldsmiths' Company, opposed to losing their monopoly on hall marking, submitted evidence to the Commons investigative committee which suggested that the Sheffield trade condoned the platers' practice of stamping their wares with imitation hallmarks. Parliament, nonetheless permitted the establishment of the two new assay offices but recognized the London Goldsmiths' Company objection insofar as henceforward it prohibited the platers to mark their goods in any way at all.

In 1784, Sheffield successfully obtained a modification to the act which allowed platers to mark their goods with their "surname or partnership name, together with any mark, figure or device...such figure not being an assay office device for sterling silver, or in imitation thereof." Maker's of Sheffield Plate were not legally obliged to mark their goods, unlike silversmiths, but if they chose to do so, they could only use a device which had the approval of, and had been previously registered at, the Sheffield Assay Office. Many platers found these conditions irksome and continued not to mark their goods at all.

Reason For Production: Retail

Two handled cups in silver began to make their appearance in the 16th century and progressed through many different forms; ox eye cup, caudle cup, porringer and the imposing two handled cup and cover. A symbol of stability during the 18th century, the two handled cup, usually with cover reaches its largest size about 1775. This form was extensively copied by the Sheffield plate industry.

Sheffield plate originated, with the discovery in 1742, that bars of silver and copper, in unequal proportions, fused by heating under pressure, could be rolled into sheets of laminated metal and worked like silver. The industry this material created flourished for about 100 years until superseded by electroplating in the 1840s.

M.199-1920