Silverplate
Plated ware refers to articles chiefly intended for tableware consisting of an base metal or alloy covered by one of the precious metals, with the object of giving them the appearance of gold or silver. Historically, the standard amount of precious metal used was an ounce of silver per square foot of surface area (2.8cL per 930cm²).
Old Sheffield Plate
Large scale production dates to 1742 when Thomas Boulsover, of Sheffield, England developed a process by which silver plates were fused to base metal (generally copper) ingots by heating them in a furnace with borax. The ingots were then rolled down to a sheet, and from these sheets silver-plated articles were made.
Large articles such as dish covers were originally only silver-plated on one side, and after being worked into shape were tinned inside. The process varied regionally; in the West Midlands, bar-copper was the base metal used, which when bare of silver appeared dark red, whilst in Sheffield copper mixed with brass, an alloy of copper and zinc was used. The Sheffield process resulted in a harder and stronger end product and was consequently more popular, and Sheffield became the world's leading producer of metal tableware and cutlery. Following John Wright and George Elkington's development of commercial electroplating in 1840. (the process still in use today) the traditional method of production fell into rapid decline, although it continues to be used for some items subject to very heavy wear (notably buttons).
Electroplate
George Elkington and Henry Elkington were awarded the first patents for electroplating in 1840. These two then founded the electroplating industry in Birmingham, England from where it spread around the world.
As the science of electrochemistry grew, its relationship to the electroplating process became understood and other types of non-decorative metal electroplating processes were developed. Commercial electroplating of nickel, brass, tin, and zinc were developed by the 1850s. Electroplating baths and equipment based on the patents of the Elkingtons were scaled up to accommodate the plating of numerous large scale objects and for specific manufacturing and engineering applications.
The plating industry received a big boost from the advent of the development of electric generators in the late 1800s. With the higher currents available metal machine components, hardware, and automotive parts requiring corrosion protection and enhanced wear properties, along with better appearance, could be processed in bulk.
The two World Wars and the growing aviation industry gave impetus to further developments and refinements including such processes as, hard chromium plating, bronze alloy plating, sulfamate nickel plating, along with numerous other plating processes. Plating equipment evolved from manually operated tar-lined wooden tanks to automated equipment, capable of processing thousands of pounds per hour of parts.
One of American physicist Richard Feynman's first projects was to develop technology for electroplating metal onto plastic. Feynman successfully developed this technology, allowing his employer to keep commercial promises he had made but could not have fulfilled otherwise.
The above information is drawn from Wikipedia.
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