George III Old Sheffield silver plate cruet stand for 7 bottles, raised on paw feet
Exquisite Old Sheffield plate antique cruet stand for 7 bottles, dating to the George III period. Round body, raised on four cast paw feet and trimmed with a highly ornate applied border of foliage, scrolls and flowers. The bottle frame is supported with four pillars with applied acanthus leaf decoration and centred on a splendidly embossed looping carry handle with scrolling and shell design in typical Rococo style.
Made in Sheffield, England, c. 1790s
1096 g
22 cm tall to handle
3 cm tall to edge
23 cm diameter
5 large rings - 4.7 cm internal diameter
2 small rings - 3.5 cm internal diameter
Very good antique condition. Copper bleeding and some scratches appropriate to age and use; top of the handle is pierced in two spots; small piercings in few places to the applied border around the edge of the stand.
Exquisite Old Sheffield plate antique cruet stand for 7 bottles, dating to the George III period. Round body, raised on four cast paw feet and trimmed with a highly ornate applied border of foliage, scrolls and flowers. The bottle frame is supported with four pillars with applied acanthus leaf decoration and centred on a splendidly embossed looping carry handle with scrolling and shell design in typical Rococo style.
Made in Sheffield, England, c. 1790s
1096 g
22 cm tall to handle
3 cm tall to edge
23 cm diameter
5 large rings - 4.7 cm internal diameter
2 small rings - 3.5 cm internal diameter
Very good antique condition. Copper bleeding and some scratches appropriate to age and use; top of the handle is pierced in two spots; small piercings in few places to the applied border around the edge of the stand.
Exquisite Old Sheffield plate antique cruet stand for 7 bottles, dating to the George III period. Round body, raised on four cast paw feet and trimmed with a highly ornate applied border of foliage, scrolls and flowers. The bottle frame is supported with four pillars with applied acanthus leaf decoration and centred on a splendidly embossed looping carry handle with scrolling and shell design in typical Rococo style.
Made in Sheffield, England, c. 1790s
1096 g
22 cm tall to handle
3 cm tall to edge
23 cm diameter
5 large rings - 4.7 cm internal diameter
2 small rings - 3.5 cm internal diameter
Very good antique condition. Copper bleeding and some scratches appropriate to age and use; top of the handle is pierced in two spots; small piercings in few places to the applied border around the edge of the stand.
Sheffield Plate, now known by collectors as "Old Sheffield Plate" was accidentally invented by Thomas Boulsover, of Sheffield's Cutlers Company, in 1743. While trying to repair the handle of a customer's silver knife, he heated it too much and the silver started to melt. When he examined the damaged handle, he noticed that the silver and copper had fused together very strongly. Experiments showed that the two metals behaved as one when he tried to reshape them, even though he could clearly see two different layers. Boulsover developed the technique of sandwiching an ingot of copper between two thin plates of silver, tightly binding it with wire and then heating it in a furnace. This was then milled into sheets from which objects were made.
The production of Sheffield Plate declined after 1840 when George Elkington invented electro silver plating which is why genuine Old Sheffield Plate items are so rare and highly regarded. Furthermore, electroplating tends to produce a "brilliant" surface with a hard colour – as it consists of pure rather than sterling silver and is usually deposited more thinly which causes it to lose silvering much quicker than Old Sheffield ware that still retains its beauty 250 years down the line.
