1st Edition

Silver in England

By Philippa Glanville Copyright 1987
    390 Pages
    by Routledge

    392 Pages
    by Routledge

    First Published in 2005. Silver is unique among the decorative arts in that its raw material is both inherently valuable and infinitely reusable. Its ownership has been a social bench-mark and its form has exercised the skills of sculptors, designers, chasers and engravers, but ultimately it could be, and normally was, melted down and refashioned quite without sentiment. Because of this constant recycling, the survival of any individual object is quite random and unrelated to its uniqueness or otherwise in its period. Hitherto plate historians have focused on individual objects almost to the exclusion of the context - social or economic - from which they came but now that context is seen as crucial in understanding historic plate. So in the first section of this book each chapter considers contemporary attitudes and usage.

    PART 1: HISTORY

    1. Medieval

    2. Tudor

    3. Stuart

    4. Early Georgian

    5. Mid-Georgian to Regency

    6. From Victoria to the Present Day

    PART 2: CRAFT, COMPANY AND CUSTOMERS

    7. 'Touch', assay and hallmarking

    8. Techniques of the Silversmith

    9. London, the COuntry an the Colonies

    PART 3: DESIGN AND ORNAMENTATION

    10. Heraldry as Ornament

    11. Engraving and Engravers

    12. Alien Craftsmen and Imported Designs

    PART 4: SILVER AND SOCIETY

    13. Antiquaries, Collectors and Fakers

    14. The Sociology of Silver: Gifts and Obligations

    Biography

    Philippa Glanville Assistant Keeper, Department of Metalwork, Victoria & Albert Museum