Close Plate
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Close plating was a craft in which a thin layer of silver was applied to an article made of a base metal, most often iron or steel. Birmingham was the centre of the close plating industry in Britain. The object was first smoothed and thoroughly cleaned. It was them heated in a charcoal fire and afterwards submerged into first a solution of salt-ammoniac and then into a molten tin. This completed the fusion of the steel and tin and the item was allowed to cool.
Silver spoons with fig shaped bowls and handles topped by figures of apostles, or in the case of the master spoon of a set of thirteen, by the figure of Christ. A number of full length figures of the Virgin Mary are also known. Popular in Britain, Germany and else where from about 1490 to 1675,they became collectable in Victorian times and have been faked, forged and reproduced ever since. No complete sets of 13 are known to remain from before the 1500's.
The name Niello is derived from Latin: Nigellus meaning “blackened”. It is a metallic alloy with sulphur which is used as a surface decoration technique which, much like enamel , is fused to a metal base. The lustre of niello, however, is metallic instead of vitreous and it is much tougher than enamel. Niello comes in just one colour – black of various tones – which contrasts highly with silver the most popular base for niello work.
Tea, coffee and chocolate became popular in Britain in the first half the 1700's.
Tea was introduced into Europe from China with the expansion of trade in the 1600’s and was a great novelty to people used to drinking only beer, wine and posset - milk curdled with wine, ale or vinegar.
Some would say it was inevitable, but now it is actually happening. Two of the world’s most revered cultural icons, Fabergé and James Bond, unite in a year where they both celebrate milestone anniversaries. Fabergé, the world’s most iconic artist jeweller, is delighted to announce that it will create a unique and captivating Fabergé x 007 Egg Objet, commemorating Fabergé's 180th anniversary and the 60th anniversary of the first James Bond film, Dr. No, which was released on 5th October 1962.
Silver in its natural state is 99% pure and is too soft and malleable to be used effectively for any practical purposes. It is alloyed with copper or zinc to toughen it up. Sterling Silver is 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% copper. It melts at 894 degrees Centigrade. Sterling Silver is one of the most popular metals in the jewellery trade, and people with allergies to other metals can safely use this metal. A multi-faceted metal, it is used extensively for coins, utensils, storage containers, jewellery and other decorative pieces.
Writing about Faberge is as close as I will come to this famous and well known Russian silversmith since all the pieces are unfortunately outside of my financial reach.