Object Type
This teapot is typical of British Neo-classicism at the end of the 18th century. It is made from Sheffield plate with a handle of holly wood.

Materials & Making
Sheffield plate was discovered in about 1742 by Thomas Boulsover (1704-1788), a Sheffield cutler. He found that copper and silver in unequal amounts, when fused, expanded together indefinitely at a 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 technique which could convincingly imitate the surface appearance of solid silver.

People
Matthew Boulton (1728-1809) is famous chiefly for his partnership with the engineer James Watt (1736-1819), whom Boulton greatly assisted in the development of the steam engine. But he was also notable for the high quality of the silver, Sheffield plate, ormolu (gilt bronze) and other metalwork produced at his Soho factory on the outskirts of Birmingham. This factory, which he started to build in 1762, soon became the industrial showplace of Birmingham. Boulton ran it in association with John Fothergill (died 1782). Boulton used his firm's large and profitable output of small articles, such as buttons and buckles in cut steel and domestic articles in Sheffield plate, to subsidise the production of his more ambitious articles in silver and ormolu. For the latter, he employed the services of established designers, such as the architects Robert Adam (1728-1792), William Chambers (1723-1796) and James Wyatt (1746-1813). His clients included George III and Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia.