Research topic: Sheffield plate

Sheffield plate metalware of copper, silver-plated by fusion, originated at Sheffield, England. This process of plating was discovered c.1742 by a Sheffield cutler, Thomas Boulsover, who found while doing repair work on silver and copper that they fused at high temperature and could be hammered and shaped as one metal. He used his discovery to make buttons and buckles, but an apprentice, Joseph Hancock, grasped the broader application and began the production of tableware and other domestic articles that won wide popularity as substitutes for the more expensive solid silver. The manufacture spread... Read more