posted 03-07-2008 02:16 PM            

I just got my hands on a 1929 Gorham catalogue and noticed that there are several finishes listed. I am hoping someone can tell me what each finish is supposed to look like and what the differences are between them. The ones I noticed most often were: Grey Finish, Butler Finish, Bright Finish, Colonial Finish and Bright Butler Finish.

Thanks

posted 03-08-2008 11:03 AM            

I wonder if they started offering the different finishes after they cut back on the number of patterns on offer.

The Venable Silver in America book has interesting excerpts from a management review at Gorham (in the 19teens? will have to check the book) that was very critical of the huge array of patterns offered; some of them were manufactured in quantities as small as six or eight. No wonder some patterns are functionally unavailable!

posted 03-08-2008 11:26 AM            

When I started in the 70’s the polishers I used, (Chick Brothers, 4 brothers and one sister! in London) like their competition, offered all these finishes and some still do.

Bright is mirror, Butler is with tiny scratches like it was hand polished and Bright Butler is the same but less mat. The others may include oxidizing or chemical “coloring”.

posted 03-08-2008 11:38 AM            

In a couple of the silver books I'm now reading there are pictures of workers holding pieces against moving mechanical wire brushes to achieve a matte finish -- the company in question had a patent on that process.

Are wire brushes used in the hand-polishing process to achieve a matte finish?

posted 03-10-2008 11:50 PM            

The patented process must have been to get a specific finish as an end result that was different from the competition.

posted 03-13-2008 12:30 PM            

After going through a half dozen books the last one, the one I least expected to have the detail gave a very good account of “Georgian, Victorian and Bright Butler finishes... All done by hand using whitting powder or rouge powder and brushes or soft mops.
This was in “The Thames and Hudson Manual of Silversmithing” by Frances Loyen, Thames & Hudson Ltd., London and NYC, 1980

I took evening silversmithing classes with her (we were both students) and a few years later I was surprised to learn she had written a very good how to book. It had the added benefit for me of showing the hands and work of some good friends!

“Is there a book you recommend that has illustrations or descriptions of the polishing process (along with other metalsmithing procedures)?”

As well as Frances’s book there are 7 others, I list them in order of my personal preference of how and what they say about silversmithing (as distinct from jewelry) techniques. There is an English bias to the list because I often think that there is more depth of technique. Also I leave out #7)Oppi Untracht “Metal Techniques for Craftsmen” because I think of it as a reference not a how to book as it is almost overwhelming in the amount of information and it helps to have experience before going to it!

1) “Metalwork & Enamelling” by Herbert Maryon, Dover Publications, Inc., 1971 (a republication of the 4th edition of Chapman & Hall Ltd., London, 1959 [first ed. 1912]).

2) “Form Emphasis for Metalsmiths” by Heikki Seppa, Kent State University Press, Ohio, 1978

3) “Silversmithing Manual of Design and Techniques” by Keith Smith, The Crowood Press Ltd., Wiltshire, England 2000

4) “Silversmithing” by Rupert Finegold & William Seitz, Krause Publications, Iola, WI 1983

5) “Silverwork & Jewellery” by Henry Wilson, Pitman Publishing Ltd., London (also Taplinger Publishing Co., NY, NY), 1978 (first edition 1902).

6) “The Complete Metalsmith” by Tim McCreight, Davis Publications, Inc., Worcester, MA. 1982

This list is to give a choice; any of these books will by themselves give a very good over view of “how” to. The last one is the easiest to find and is really a manual of quickie how to for a student. It is very extensive but very brief. The others are much more involved in step by step with the old ones giving a window into the craft as it has been done for centuries (Wilson quotes Theophilus, 12th c., on how to make beaded wire) and the new ones bring you up to speed today, although there are new developments that may need their own book soon!

posted 03-13-2008 07:06 PM            

Thanks again