British Plate

[burnisherboy]

The advert for Nash's improved British Plate, with a suggested date of 1835, suggests that "his name is stamped on the spoons, knives,forks and all other articles manufactured by him" Has any one ever seen this mark on any plate or plated wares? Burnisherboy

[dognose]

Hi Burnisherboy,

Which advert were you refering too?

Trev.

[burnisherboy]

Hallo Trev, The advert is published in Keith Pinns 1999 publication, "Paktong" on page 73. I wasn't sure about the copyright position in using a copy from the work. There seems to be a number of contenders for the title of "Original Inventor" of the alloy as per the advert and it would be nice to see an example of one of his items if only to see how close it came to copying sterling flatware of the same date. Burnisherboy

[burnisherboy]

One answer to the query as to the mark of William Nash may been found in information already published. John Culme's magisterial work on London makers and markers 1838- 1914 tells us that not only was he described as a silversmith aged 50 in 1841 but also that he registered a mark as a spoon maker in 1841. It is now seen that this mark appears to be the same as shown on a nickel silver brandy warmer illustrated on p 66 of Keith Pinn's work on Paktong already mentioned. A number of questions are raised by this. Did Matthew Nash use his silver mark on his output of nickel silver before 1841, if not it greatly helps to date those articles with this and the other marks shown. It may be that he was using another mark altogether for his earlier production, he having been working in the base metal trade since at least 1829. Hundreds have viewed the post; can anyone come up with another example of a Matthew Nash mark(s)?
Burnisherboy.

[dognose]

Hi Burnisherboy,

Just to add some background:

British Plate

A composite metal, developed c.1835, of a thin sheet of silver fused over a core of a Nickel Silver (instead of over copper, as for Sheffield Plate). It was harder and more durable than Sheffield Plate, had a colour and lustre similar to silver, did not reveal a pink tinge when worn, resisted acids, could be fused with hard solder, and required less silver for the coating; consequently it largely supplanted Sheffield Plate, but in turn was superseded in 1840 by ware made by Electroplating. Articles of British Plate were made by stamping sheets with a drop hammer and soldering them to form the desired piece, then adding mounts of silver either stamped or, later, made by Electroforming. It was used to make all types of articles that were made of Sheffield Plate. British Plate had no legal hallmarks, but was often given marks resembling silver hallmarks, usually not by the makers but by merchants, thus violating the 1772 and 1819 laws forbidding the use of marks on plated ware except those registered at the Sheffield Assay Office; the law was not strictly enforced, and a number of deceptive marks have been noted. The ware was sometimes advertised as 'plated by fire' to promote its sale over electroplated ware. See: G. Bernard Hughes, 'Successor to Sheffield Plate' in 'Country Life', 28 January 1960, p.160.

Source: An Illustrated Dictionary of Silverware - Harold Newman - 1987

Trev.

[dognose]

but before that, there was:

Roberts Plate

A composite metal consisting of Nickel Silver fused between layers of copper and sterling silver. The process was patented in July 1830 by Samuel Roberts, of Sheffield, and antedated the introduction of British Plate, c1835, and of Merry Plate in 1836. The process involved either first fusing the copper with Nickel Silver and then the Nickel Silver with sterling silver, or simultaneously fusing all three constituents; thus if the silver became worn, the under-layer of copper would not become visible, there being an intermediate layer of white metal. Other makers, licensed by Roberts, made much use of the process, but due to the brittle nature of Nickel Silver, few examples have survived. It was superseded by Merry Plate.

Merry Plate

A type of composite metal consisting of a layer of sterling silver fused directly on to refined Nickel Silver, without any under-layer of copper. The process was patented in March 1836 by Anthony Merry, of Birmingham; however, because it had been anticipated by Thomas Nicholson, the patent was invalidated. It superseded Roberts Plate and was later replaced by British Plate.

Source: Source: An Illustrated Dictionary of Silverware - Harold Newman - 1987

Trev.