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Salver
Hampston, Prince and Cattles - Enlarge image
Salver
- Place of origin:
York (city), England (made)
- Date:
1800-1801 (hallmarked)
- Artist/Maker:
Hampston, Prince and Cattles (maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
Silver, with bright-cut engraving
- Credit Line:
Bequeathed by Arthur Hurst
- Museum number:
M.102-1940
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 118e, case 8
Object Type
Small circular trays of less than 25 centimetres in diameter are today usually known as 'waiters'. The term waiter was also used in the past, but as a more general term. Salvers and waiters are the trays carried by servants to present food and drink to diners in a ceremonial fashion on formal accasions. Etiquette books of the late 18th century recommended that servants should 'give nothing but on a waiter'. The word 'salver' may derive from the Spanish salvar (meaning to preserve), a reminder that it was necessary for food to be tasted before eating or drinking, especially for heads of state in medieval times, when poisoning was a real threat.
Design
The flat surfaces of salvers traditionally lent themselves to engraving. The 'Bright-cut' engraving technique used here made its first appearance around 1775, and the novelty of its reflecting facets won it immediate popularity. Although the designs on this salver are loosely Classical, the repertory of ornament shows little familiarity with, or perhaps desire to reproduce, the standard Neo-classical motifs of Greek key, acanthus, or scrolling. The salver has been further engraved with a crest. The combination of the essentially Gothic form of heraldry with Classical motifs produced aesthetically mixed results. The 'bright cut' technique had passed its peak of popularity by 1800, but was still in use in the Victorian period.
