Old Sheffild Plate - the animal farm?

[Hose_dk]

Front


Back

It is 14 cm by 18,5 cm. Its made of silver on copper. But whats the use of it. The butiful engraving is on both sides making it difficult to see. It cannot be framed or hang on the wall, used on a book without one side is out of sight.

Unless its used on a book where the front is so that you see one page outside and when open the book you see the inside of the cover.
Or is it for a osp producer to show that Deep cut engraving is possible with osp?
What do you say? is tere other solutions?
And what about age?
Please help.

Details


And no hallmarks

[JLDoggett]

Looking at the gravers used to cut the pattern I would say it is pre-1870. This was cut by someone skilled, well above a practice sheet, and yet after 1870 someone with this skill would have had a 4 or 5 line graver which was first used in the cross hatched shadows. This engraver did all his shadows with single strokes. I count 6 different gravers used to cut the image, from line depth and stroke start shape, though the bulk of the image appears to be done with a small lozenge faced grave and a fine line graver, a broad lozenge appears to have been used for some of the deep lines, a broad flat face to cut the few beauty strokes, an oval face for several of the feather tips and a pip to cut the eyes.

As for why someone made it, we may never know... Why does my stonecutter cut stones that will never be used in a piece of jewelry? Maybe this was to demonstrate to a client his skills before being allowed to engrave a special piece. Maybe the engraver enjoyed his profession and did it for his own enjoyment.

[Hose_dk]

Thanks for the analyze. As I am a business analyst working with everything else but silver, I have no idea of how to manufacture. The details described by you are very welcome.
Seller had no idea either she found it nice and so....I could see that it was something and bought it.

The fact that is engraved on both sides puzzles me - but most likely you gave the answer.

Someone has vandalized it - he would see if it was silver. The cobber plate has saved it from total scrapping. I like it I find the art butifull - the craftmanship.

The material - cobber with silver on both sides. The OSP tecknique - I would say. Is that type of material still available? For purposes like this?
It could even be that the motive was taken from a painter. In Denmark furniture manufactures had to learn how to draw. The best at the Academi. Could be that this engraver had learned from the best. Another puzzle - with his skill - he might have hidden a signature somewhere. I will search, even if he proberly have not.


Here is the horrow of some silver hunter :-(

[JLDoggett]

Actually it may have ben signed on one of the edges that was cut off. The smooth edge on left side in your last picture shows the kind of edge that should be seen all around the panel. When engraving you should never cut a line that goes off the plate.

[Hose_dk]

That makes sence. A lot of the decoration continues out of the frame. The Building and the tree yes - but also some part of the birds continue. Part of the wing and that would not be expected.
But the edge is all silver - only a small part where someone looked and mooved the silver layer you see the cobber. On rest of the item the edge have been made of silver. You cannot see the sandwich Construction. A tread of silver has been put there.
And all the corners are rounded - but still with silver on the edge.

When looking for signature I discovered some very small chicken. But no signature.