Spoon, fiddle pattern electroplated nickel silver, Sheffield, ca. 1890
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
ca. 1890
“ The substitution of electro-plate for real silver is now so common in households where the latter would be regarded as a superfluous luxury, that the sternest advocate of true principles in art-manufacture would scarcely require an apology for its use.” (Charles Eastlake, Hints on Household Taste, 1878)
George Richard Elkington and his cousin and partner, Henry Elkington successfully developed electroplating, electrotyping and electrogilding processes from earlier experiments and made them commercially viable. The cousins were not inventors but innovators who, by applying the techniques to industry, revolutionized the silver and plating trades all over the world. Electroplate, a cheaper and more durable substitute for silver, replaced Sheffield plate within ten years and challenged the supremacy of silver on the dining tables and in the drawing rooms of Europe. The focus of silver and silver product manufacture moved from London to the new factories of Birmingham and Sheffield. Dessert Spoon, Fiddle Pattern
Gift - Ena Eatwell
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- Electroplated nickel silver
- Dimensions
- Length: 21 cm; Width: 4.9 cm; Depth: 1.2 cm
Technical characteristics
- Maker recorded
- James Deakin & Sons Ltd.
- Place recorded
- Sheffield
Design
- Marks and inscriptions
- Marked on the back of the stem, SIDNEY SILVER within separate lozenges, divided by an eagle within a shield; on the back of the handle along the centre line, J D & S, the letters JD within an oval lozenge, the & within an hexagonal lozenge, the letter S within an oval lozenge, the letters BP within an oval lozenge at right angles to the centre line followed by an eagle within a shield.
Identification
- Source note
- Transcribed from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London collection record for this single object (sentences kept verbatim apart from removed sale or rarity wording); how far it represents a wider collectible type has not been independently verified.
- Candidate id
- vam-O25249
- Museum object name
- Spoon
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Museum object number
- M.8-1999
- Museum system number
- O25249
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type, maker and dating against a specialist reference; this entry documents one recorded example.