REGENCY! Day 9 of 21,
The Earl of Lauderdale / Maitland family Regency period old Sheffield plate serving tray, with cast applied silver clam shell & acanthus borders, inset silver panel for the engraved shield, in mint original condition, wonderful quality (& enormous!) The crest is for the Earl of Lauderdale: the engraved latin motto for the Maitland family, Scottish peers: ‘With Prudence and Courage’, apt for now.
UK c 1820
Sold
Old Sheffield plate is a lovely subject that embodies Regency art, anonymous labour & thrift. Invented by the cutler / button maker Thomas Bolsover in 1742, a Sheffield workman, whilst repairing a knife handle made of silver and copper when, by accidentally overheating it, he caused the metals to flow so that the silver formed a coating over the copper. He realized the commercial value of this discovery and exploited it to make small objects which, though looking like silver, were largely composed of the cheaper metal. The artistic Birmingham Industrialist & inventor, Mathew Boulton pioneered production from the second half of the 18th century. The process of annealing two sheets of silver with a copper core by hand, then working up in the manner of the silversmith became a time consuming work of art: Sheffield plate. After a time of great prosperity its popularity fell away, and eventually it was largely superseded by the invention of electroplating during the early 1850s.
Large & mint examples that have not been later electroplated such as this are rare (and useful!). 21 examples of Regency furniture & decorative arts, (mixed with a little architecture!), to please, tease & titillate, revealed over 21 days.
2020 marks the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Beethoven, and the 200th of the Prince Regent becoming King.
Regency design was produced in times of war, for pleasure.
All items for sale.
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Stay clean, healthy & happy.
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