posted 01-16-2004 09:23 AM            

quote:

---

On the Trail of Early Silver Plating
Robert Goldberg
September 3, 2003

.... In "1743, when a lucky and observant cutler named Thomas Boulsover (pronounced Bow-ser) (1704-1788) accidentally overheated a silver-cased copper knife handle during a repair. When he saw that the two metals fused together permanently, an idea was formed. Later, as he experimented, he was amazed to discover that the two metals, silver and copper, acted as one when they were rolled out under pressure. The plating process that developed is called “fused plating.” The objects formed from fused plate are commonly known in the antiques trade as “Old Sheffield Plate.” The term Sheffield, which refers to the town that became the center for the silver plate industry, is a slight misnomer, since the city of Birmingham also produced large quantities of fused plate.

According to the writings of Charles Dixon, a Sheffield candlestick maker who compiled a record of the silver-plating trade during his lifetime (1776-1852), Boulsover borrowed ?70 to finance the production of plated buttons and small boxes, which heretofore had been made for the wealthy, mostly of sterling silver. Selling the plated buttons to the burgeoning middle and merchant classes was so profitable that Thomas paid off his loan and accumulated enough capital to test his mettle in other business ventures. Apparently, he did not realize the possibilities of his discovery, since he poorly guarded the secret of his plating process. Boulsover also must have had a restless nature, for he spent much of his time developing an innovative saw blade.

Around 1750, a Sheffield plater named Joseph Hancock applied fused plating to larger pieces, probably learning of the technique from one of Boulsover’s employees. According to the research of Frederick Bradbury, the author of The History of Old Sheffield Plate written in 1912, at Hancock’s death in 1791, his contemporaries often referred to him as the “father of the fused plate industry.” While Thomas Boulsover’s reputation and achievements faded into obscurity, the silver-plating business in England, in competition with the silversmiths, prospered and even boomed.

Among collectors, the pieces made by the Birmingham factory of Matthew Boulton (1728-1809) rank highest. Boulton, technically an engineer, was one of England’s greatest entrepreneurs during his lifetime. He was a friend to Josiah Wedgwood, Benjamin Franklin and many of his nation’s best scientific minds. In partnership with James Watt, he contributed to the invention of the steam engine. Due to his efforts, Birmingham and Sheffield were awarded assay offices, encouraging the regional production of sterling silver wares. The fused plate produced by Boulton’s Soho Works represents the best styling of the times. The factory, completed in 1764, was capable of employing 1,000 hands, turning out prodigious quantities of tea urns, candlesticks, boxes and epergnes, as well as the more mundane buttons, buckles and medals. The factory was a major tourist attraction for visitors to the region. ....

---

Presumably the popularity of this led various scientists in the early 19th century to experiment with depositing a layer of silver by an electrolytic process.

Initially, however, it seems they had problems with quality and wear which made their efforts ineffective. Only in around 1840 were a number of patents taken out for commercial electroplating processes.

quote:

---

A short history of electroplating

The early history of electrodeposition of precious metals onto lesser metal can be reliably traced back to around 1800. Italian chemist and university professor Luigi Brugnatelli, is considered by many as the first person to utilize gold in the electroplating process. Brugnatelli was a friend of Allisandro Volta, who had just discovered the chemical principles that would later lead to the development of "voltaic"electrical batteries. Volta's first practical demonstration of this was called a "Voltaic Pile." As a result, Brugnatelli's early work using voltaic electricity enabled him to experiment with various metallic plating solutions. By 1805, he had refined his process enough to plate a fine layer of gold over large silver metals. In a letter to the Belgian Journal of Physics and Chemistry' later reprinted in Great Britain, Brugnatelli wrote: "I have lately gilt in a complete manner two large silver medals, by bringing them into communication by means of a steel wire, with a negative pole of a voltaic pile, and keeping them one after the other immersed in ammoniuret of gold newly made and well saturated".

Unfortunately, a falling out with the French Academy of Sciences, the leading scientific body of Europe, prevented any of Brugnatelli's important work from being published in the scientific journals of his day. His work remained largely unknown outside of Italy, except for a small group of close associates.....

By 1839, scientists in Great Britain and Russia had independently devised metal deposition processes similar to Brugnateli's, for the copper electroplating of printing press plates. By 1840, this discovery was adapted and refined by Henry and George Elkington of Birmingham, England for gold and silver plating. Collaborating with partner John Wright, and his innovative formulas for potassium cyanide plating baths, the Elkingtons were able to secure the first viable patents for gold and silver electroplating. .....

---

quote:

---

Electroplating
By Mary Bellis

... John Wright, of Birmingham, England, discovered that potassium cyanide was a suitable electrolyte for gold and silver electroplating. According to the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter, "It was a Birmingham doctor, John Wright, who first showed that items could be electroplated by immersing them in a tank of silver held in solution, through which an electric current was passed. ...

Others inventors were also carrying on similar work. Wright, the Elkington cousins and an inventor called Barratt, were all issued several patents in 1840. However, Henry, and George Richard Elkington patented the electroplating process first, it should be noted that the Elkington's bought John Wright's process. The Elkington's held a monopoly on electroplating for many years due to their patent, an inexpensive process. ....

---