Silver, Gift of a Lifetime
by Bill Tannebring
For centuries, household silver has indicated
the wealth of a family. It is only since about 1850, when the
electroplating process was developed, that flatware for the
table and hollow-ware pieces have been priced within the budget
of the average family. But nineteenth-century plated silver as
well as pieces of early American and Federal silver are as good
as money in the bank today.
The history of American silver
parallels the social development of the country. The first
silver used by the Colonists in New England was simple and
useful, but as the country grew and prospered, the demand for
more and finer pieces increased. By the time of the Revolution,
wealthy Colonists were living as graciously as their
contemporaries in England, and after we became a nation, the
work of American silversmiths reached great heights, which
continued into the first quarter of the nineteenth
century.
Silversmiths found plenty of work
to keep them busy at their trade during Colonial days. Their
handiwork was not seen in the average household, where similar
articles were made of brass, iron, copper, pewter, or wood.
However, for those fortunate enough to accumulate silver coins,
the silversmith served as a sort of banker and insurance agent
too. He melted down the coins, made household articles from
them, and identified these pieces with the owner's monogram,
crest, or coat of arms. Usually the silversmith's own mark was
stamped somewhere too. Nowadays, knives, forks and spoons are
the first silverware that most families invest in but in
Colonial days it was mugs, beakers, tankards, candlesticks, and
other useful household articles. Covered cups, inkstands and
snuffer stands, sauce boats, salt containers, sugar boxes,
creamers, bowls, tea kettles and teapots were other likely
pieces.
By the 1890's, every member of a
family had his own napkin ring made of either sterling or
plated silver. These were almost always identified with an
initial or monogram, usually placed within a garland or scroll.
If the napkin ring had been a gift on a birthday or some other
special occasion, the date was often added, usually in script
lettering. At about the same time that napkin rings became a
polite necessity, it became the custom to give engraved cups or
mugs with handles as gifts to newborn babies.
The early silversmith learned his
trade in every detail. He melted silver coins, rolled the
resulting mass of silver into a flat piece, and then raised it
with his hammers to some beautiful form. If he did not do all
the work himself, he had at hand a workman whom he had trained
to do at least part of the process for him. But the master
craftsman required the finished product to be of such quality
that he could be proud to put his stamp upon each piece, either
his initials or his name. He stood back of every article that
left his shop. Silver-making was highly specialized.
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