Coasters were in popular use by the 1750s. They were invented to enable guests to slide decanters or wine bottles across the table without scratching the surface. They had baize covered or polished wooden bases. Later versions sometimes had wheels. Coasters also served to catch drips which might stain the table.

Gentlemen could not drink freely or at least as much as they wished until the end of the meal when the ladies had withdrawn to take tea or coffee in the drawing room. The butler laid out the appropriate glasses in front of each guest, and the decanters, on coasters, were then placed before the master of the house to be passed around in an informal and relaxed atmosphere.

Sheffield plate was discovered in about 1743 by Thomas Boulsover, a Sheffield cutler. Boulsover’s discovery was simply that copper and silver in unequal amounts, when fused expanded together indefinitely at uniform rate under mechanical pressure. The introduction of Sheffield plate revolutionised the plating industry for it offered an effective, relatively cheap, supremely versatile and durable plating technique which could convincingly imitate the surface appearance of solid silver.