Silver objects embrace their surroundings transforming them in ways that call into question all concepts of solid surface. It is a paradox, that in the very act of reflection, a silver object carries the beholder towards its unseen heart to hover in a state between real and surreal image, between stillness and motion. As a substance, silver is illusionary with a power both subtle and compelling. Disturbing sensations of ambience are called forth as we are drawn towards the warmth of our reflected world then started by the cold perfection of the object's touch, leaving the witness mark of our humanity to spoil that perfection

It is a twentieth century notion that the earlier examples of gold and silversmiths' art should be preserved for age or artistic merit. Silver and Gold plate was normally held in reserve so that whenever the need arose, it could be melted down into coin. The peak period for this activity was in 17th and 19th Century France. Some may remember the word 'silver' being interchangeable with 'coin' - "Do you have any silver in your pocket?"

An almost impossible thing for modern man to imagine is a world without mirrors. The silvering of glass produces the perfect aid to human perception, including most importantly self-perception. Our mirrored images are of course coloured, but they also acquire something of the nature of the silvered space before us that occupies another dimension. Together with photographs, the mirror provides the only way to see ourselves as others see us. Or does it? Who has not, in a contemplative mood, stared at the image in the glass only to find 'a stranger' staring back. Art and literature is filled with references to these moments of self-revelation.

Silver objects take their place in a particularly pleasurable way in front of a mirror and an array of small silver objects multiplies into a magic infinity if the mirror 'has wings'. These small items are most valuable to the collector and in the past many were referred to by the delightful name 'objects de virtu'.

The term 'objects de virtu' has nothing whatever to do with the morality but derives from the expression 'virtu', meaning a small object of artistic beauty and rarity. It is these objects in particular which provide a window to the social life of the 18th Century. they include; Boites a Mouche (Velvet patch boxes), boites a Rouge (Make up boxes), receptacles for powder and comfits, Etuis-a-Cire (boxes for needles and wax); pill boxes, Vinaigrettes for scent, seals, chatelaines for watches, cane and parasol handles, scent bottles and shoe buckles. Amongst these, snuff boxes are perhaps the most popular item for the collector although years of wear may have removed the hallmark leaving a dating problem. Taking snuff had been socially fashionable since Columbus's day with some of the finest craftsmen devoting their labours to these small pleasurable items. Silver snuff boxes were particularly popular because of the materials' property of keeping snuff fresh. All good snuff boxes have close-fitting lids or covers. Male attire in the 18th Century included waistcoats with pockets large enough to hold 3 inch long snuff boxes and occasionally one finds a double boxes for separating grades of snuff. The Castle Top variety was made by casting from moulds which covered a range of castles including Windsor and Warwick castles. The best English examples are by, amongst others, Birmingham Silversmiths Nathaniel Mills, Joseph Taylor and Thomas Birmingham Assay office mark (an anchor) together with a sterling silvermark, the date-letter, the duty mark of the current sovereign's head and the initial of the original silversmith. The complete silvermark is split on most boxes between the cover and the base of the box, with the maker's mark often appearing on both.

In 18th century France, the beginnings of a new style arose. The Majestic style, associated with the building of Versailles, now gave way to a style called Regence. All Europe relinquished the Baroque forms in favour of a lighter Roccoco mood. Ideas were taken from rock work, shells in graceful undulating curves and reversed 'C' scrolls with a continental use of Chinoiserie lending a delightful asymmetry to the design. A nonetable example of this type of form is the Bombe shape whose movements sway and is without straight lines. Cast decorations were applied asymmetrically to disguise the basic shape regularity. Some of the finest works to appear reflect this style: 'white' silver was preferred to silver gilt. In France, the country of the style's origin, J.A. Meissonier showed his complete mastery. Although much of the great work has been melted down it is impossible to see the work of Thomas German (1675-1748), the greatest French Silversmith of the first half of the 18th century. In addition to his work for Louis XIV and Louis XV he made famous pieces for the Portugese Royal Family which were lost in the catastrophic earthquakes in Lisbon in 1755. In Dresden, J.M. Dinglinger (1664-1731) created objects of extraordinary fantasy amongst them, "The Great Mogol's Birthday Party" which depicted a metre square stage set with over one hundred figures of guests, fit bearing attendants and exotic animals in gold and silver gilt embelished with precious stones.

English tea pots in the swag-bellied style have come to epitomise the English tea culture embodying as they do a quality difficult to define but part of the image we call British. "This happy breed of men, this little world, this precious stone set in a silver sea," as Shakespeare described. English silver tea caddies made in the reigns of King George II and George III are usually rectangular or oval with a flat top and bottom. Plain or elaborately chased they were often made in matching pairs. The best ones came in a 'shagreen' (green tinted sharkskin) covered case. English coffee pots of the first half to the 18th Century have a Middle Eastern look to their spouts and handles curving about their bodies in graceful arabesques. Stylistically speaking, the greatest Chinoiserie influence seems to be in the tea caddies, housing their expensive contents within a "House of Precious Treasures" appearance.

About 1800 the Neo-Classical style moved into a new pash, fired by the desire to reproduce even more styles of antiquity which included Egyptian and Etruscan forms. In France the new style became known as 'Empire' which corresponds with Regency style in England. Silver gilt was much used in work at this time, reflecting the highly cultivated taste of the Price Regent, later George IV. In France, the firm founded by M.C. Biennais (1764-1843) rose to success in the service of Napoleon's Imperial dream and again the use of silver gilt was preferred. So highly regarded was the British firm of Garrards, that in the 1820s, the great Paris goldsmith Odiot sent his son to work there and ordered English machines for his Paris workshop. Garrards had started in 1802 when Robert Garrard Senior took control of the company and then succeeded Rundell and Bridge as Royal Goldsmith in 1830. Much of their financial success was due to the fact that they reproduced everyday silverware in contemporary styles, good solid pieces whose weight and value was immediately apparent. They gained further notice by furnishing cups for many well known horse races including the Ascot Cup which was created by Edmund Cotterill who joined Garrards in 1833. As early as 1814, Paul Storr made an electrogilt silver goblet and by 1840 the Ekington cousins of Birmingham took out the first patents which led to their revolutionising and monopolising the plating industry. They employed a number of French sculptors the most successful of whom was Leonard Morel-Laudeuil.

Unhampered by the rig assay systems, of European rivals, the firm of C.F. Tiffany (1812-1902) was able to show at the 1867 exhibition in Paris, work which reflected the simpler style stimulated by the resumption after many years, of trade with Japan. The 'Aesthetic Movement' as the Japan-inspired style became known, was more palatable to the Western intellectual elite than were the eclectic revivals of previous styles which continued to enjoy public approval. In 1876 the English designer Christopher Dresser (1834 -1904) visited Japan, buying both for Tiffany and the South Kensington Museum (now Victoria and Albert Museum) in London. Dresser's functional designs, drawn with the machine in mind and made to be executed in either silver or silver plate were marked by their beauty and simplicity of shape; no decoration blurred their furnished surface. Japanese influence appeared in the shapes he used and the positioning of the handles of his objects.

The firm of Liberty of London exploited the appeal of Ashbee's Guild style. It was in keeping with the general Art Nouveau style of the 1880s and also with Liberty's original reputation as importer of Oriental goods. Liberty's silver bore hammer marks which made the work look as if it was completely handmade.

In fact, the hammermarks were either included in the die-stamp or added to a spun piece after it was finished. The Hammermen had returned - albeit in robotic form! The designs of the Glasgow architect; Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) were more influential in continental Art Nouveau than they were Britain, showing a development from 'sappy' tendril-like hot house curves to a tauter, more purposeful and energetic style more appropriate to the 20th Century.

Even the most infrequent collectors of silver should know something of the vast subject of hallmarks which is linked to the development of the guilds. As early as 1275 an ordinance was issued reminding the guilds that each town should have its own mark. In 1355 we have the first reference to a maker's mark, a device used at the time. After 1540, initials were added with the date and letter system not becoming obligatory in France until 1506 (although instituted 50 years before). By the 14th Century most leading towns of Europe had well established bodies of gold and silversmiths. At this time all records make mention of the town mark. The date-letter system is of considerable antiquity and familiar to French and English collections. The initial motivation was not to date a piece but to ascertain which Assay Office-Master was holding office so that blame could be apportioned if a piece was found to be substandard.

In 1672 a permanent system of taxation was instigated in France; charge marks and duty marks as well as date and letter were used until the revolution when marks changed completely. The punitive powers of guilds were dissolved in 1797 and since then it has remained the responsibility of the state. After 1839 a single mark was used, a practice which is still in existence.

London marks have remained virtually unchanged from their introduction in the 15th century until present day. The Leonard's Head, a famous London mark was obligatory by 1300 and a regular date-letter system, in cycles of 20 years began in 1478. By 1543 the Lion Passant appeared and thence forward the same four marks were employed in London- Marker's Mark, Lion Passant, Leopards Head and Date-letter. The reigning sovereign's head appears as a duty mark between 1784-1890. In Germany, both Nuremberg and Augsberg had regulation marks governing gold and silversmiths. The letter 'N' was in regular use by 1516 and Augusburg (The Pineapple) in 1529. Nuremberg introduced the date-letter system in 1766 continuing until mid-19th century as did Augsburg in 1735 discontinuing it about the same time as Nuremberg. In other countries, notably the Netherlands and Scandinavia, highly organized guilds with similar systems maintained high standards and great emphasis is placed by collectors on these markings. The credit for instituting an alphabetised system of dating goes to Montpellier in 1427. No institution is without its corrupt side and unscrupulous gold and silversmiths were not above stamping low quality work with the mark of another town.

Men have risked life and limb to "Pluck the silver apples of the moon". As travel to South America has increased, so has interest in Pre-Columbian gold and silver which includes some of the most exotic objects ever made. Although mostly plundered by the Conquistadors and subsequently melted down upon arrival in Europe, some hauntingly beautiful objects remain. Notable cultures in this field were the Chavin from the Northern Andes of Peru ,the Mohica of North Peru and Nasca in the South and the Tihuanaco of the Lake Titicaca area of Bolivia from whence came the famous 'Whistleing Vases". the Chimu succeeded them with Zoomorphic designs and ceremonial knives which rank as masterpieces, eventually being overrun by the Incas in the 13th Century A.D. The American Museum of Natural History in New York houses a silver cast Llama with a saddle blanket of inlaid gold and cinnabar which is a superlative example of its genre. Of course much of the silver in south America is of European design and workmanship. There are numerous altar pieces composed entirely of silver or gold in both public churches and the chapels found in private homes. The accompanying ecclesiastical garments are amongst the most ostentatious and magnificent garments seen outside the Vatican.

In the mid 1970s I had the pleasure of witnessing a most delightful example of conspicuous display just outside Oruru in Bolivia during a religious festival. Gypsies arrive in huge, rounded black American Oldsmobiles which were literally covered with huge canteens of antique solid silver cutlery soup tureens, large trays and turkey covers amongst others, all secured with festival ribbons and coloured rags, poised above the car windows from which smiling gold-toothed gypsies absorbed the gasps emanating from the Indian, Spanish and tourist festivalgoers alike. On that morning, "The Romance of Silver" took on an entirely new meaning for me!

One cannot leave the vast subject of silver without reference to the important and intimate field of human adornment. Silver jewellery has its own kind of beauty. It's subtlety on skin or cloth can be without peer. In the evening it calls forth poetic reference in the moon... "Was I deceived or did a sable cloud turned forth her silver lining in the night?" - with these few words, Milton paints an immediate image of the perfect analogy for a woman adorned with silver.

In the 18th Century jewellery had become involved almost exclusively with the setting and display of gems. During this time there was a fashionable preoccupation with the art of jewelled objects unparalleled in other periods. Around 1700 the "brilliant" cut, discovered by a Venetian, Vincenzo Peruzzi contributed to the establishment of the diamond as the pre-eminent gemstone. Colour was frequently avoided in this period, the diamonds being set in silver. By the latter half of the 19th Century great changes in taste had affected even the most cautious designers. A newer lightness and abstraction permeated their work and with the recent discoveries of mines in South Africa diamonds were in plentiful supply. During the 1890s stones in gold settings were completely out of vogue. the aim of the 'Joallier' - a jeweller who worked in precious stones -was to create a practically invisible setting and silver (sometimes gold-backed for stability) was used for diamond necklaces and tiaras with diamonds frequently combined with 'colourless' stones like moon stones, opals and pearls.

During the Art Nouveau period, many important silver pieces were produced, often with the characteristic curvilinear design incorporating a woman and plants with convoluted forms. The use of translucent stones set in silver adds to their wearability then and now.

The raw material of the fabric of human imagination is illuminated by a magic thread and that magic thread is silver the colour of the ethereal and the unknown. Silver is past and present and undoubtedly, those who have designed our tomorrow have coloured them silver.

Both silver and gold in natural form are too soft for practical use and so they are alloyed with other metals, normally copper for additional strength. The question of alloy is the basis of almost every ordinance emanating from goldsmiths' guilds. After smelting, the molten metal, alloyed in accordance with the standards laid down by the guild concerned, was poured into moulds corresponding as far as possible to the shape of the object being made. The basic tool of the Silversmiths' trade is the hammer. Guilds of 'Hammermen' existed in past times - Blacksmiths, Whitesmiths (Silversmiths), Coppersmiths and others. The hammers have a variety of faces with degrees of convexity. Wooden mallets covered with hide are also used but today, much of the preparatory work is no longer necessary as silver sheet is supplied in any size required.

Three principle ways of decorating plain silver include embossing (repousse work), chasing and engraving. Embossing raises the surface of the metal in low relief and with a salver or tray the process is carried out on reverse side. At this point to avoid distorting the object, the silver piece is firmly bedded on or filled with pitch.. As a roughly raised pattern at this point, small punches and light hammers then have to be used to finish the object with a refinement of forms. Chasing may be distinguished from engraving in that design can be seen on the reverse or inside of the pieces. The chasing outlines, the pattern on the surface then cuts and slightly depresses the design. The engraving process utilises a tool with a sharp cutting point called a 'scorper'. The most widely used engraving process in England from 1775 to 1795 was 'bright cut' work which gave the surface of the metal reflections of tiny facets. This process was a specialised trade in itself with women traditionally doing the polishing. After immersion in a weakened solution of sulphuric acid it was poured and cleaned before polishing, however for the past 100 years, most polishing has been done by machine.

The 18th Century was a period in which the machine replaced many of the processes previously performed by craftsmen: a time of slow but sure industrial change. Larger firms superseded small workshops with silver production becoming cheaper heralding the invention of substitutes. Sheffield plate appeared about 1742. A sheet of copper, it was found, could be fused by heat to a think skin of silver then put through a rolling mill; the two metals expand in unison and can be used the same way as a sheet of silver at less cost. These rolling mills were initially horse powered, giving way later to water power followed by steam. Dyestamping and swagging machines made patterns, copper wire was plated silver and drawn out to strengthen and decorate pieces. The observation of various methods of concealing the raw copper edge can be used by collectors to date the piece fairly accurately, for example, the simple sheared edge was used from 1743-58. Joseph Hancock introduced the method of overlapping the silver to conceal the copper edge from 1758 to the 1870s. Also from 1775-1815, a method employed the fitting a 'V'-shaped length of sterling silver wire over the edge of the plate and soldering both sides. Burnishing was also used. Sheffield plate was suitable for ornamental piercing and special hard steel tools were developed in the 1770s.

Matthew Bolton (1720-1809) at his Soho factory in Birmingham was one of the first to employ industrial processes on a large scale. These new industrial methods suited the growing fondness for Neo-Classical designs which spread through Europe and America from the 1760s. The new simpler styles were influenced by the Roman architect Piranesi and by the archaeological treasures then being uncovered. Manufacturers using these latter techniques were able to cater to an ever increasing prosperous middle class. Scottish silverware, notable for its great simplicity reached a peak in the 1730s -1740s. Colin McKensie and James Sympsone were making refined, nonornamental pieces which sometimes included magnificent coats of arms. Silverware produced in this period may still be found. Town marks can be an accurate guide. Although Glasgow began a date-letter system in 1681 it was not used regularly until 1819. A Swedish silversmith of great talent, Andrew Fogelberg was working in London however the finest silver produced in this period still came from France.

Initially the process of electroplating involved the use of a copper base which gradually showed through with wear as it had done with Sheffield plate, then layer of whitish alloy was interposed between copper and silver. This was 'German or nickel silver (a mixture of copper, zinc and nickel) invented in China and introduced in England in the 18th century. By 1836 the copper base was replaced entirely by one of approved nickel silver, now called 'Argentine silver'. Another metal, a mixture of antimony and tin, which originated in the 18th century and had been used by the Sheffield palters, was also electroplated. This was called 'Brittanica metal'. the great advantage of using a 'white' base metal and of the electroplating technique itself was that when the silver wore away, the colour of the exposed base was less obvious and, additionally, the object could be put in the vat for replating as often as required.

From 1842 G. Christofle (1805-63) in Paris began making electroplated goods under licence from Elkington's of Birmingham. All his designs were available in both silver and electroplate, an important selling point. A turning point in Christofle's career came when his nephew Henri Bouilhet joined the company. 'An engineer and chemist, he devised a machine for stamping out spoons and forks and developing a method of producing large scale architectural ornaments in single pieces on a commercial scale. With advances in technology, silversmiths found themselves able to copy exactly all known historical styles and to simply add naturalistic details to them.