Archive | April, 2010

Collecting Silver Flatware – Part 1

by on 19. Apr, 2010 in Antique Silver


General Overview

Before it was customary in setting a table with cutlery or flatware was introduced in the 17th century spoons and knives were personnel possessions everyone had their own spoon and fork. It was normally only the rich who could afford silver flatware. To have silver flatware was a great advantage over any other type of flatware as germs cannot grow on Silver. Spoons have been used since before the Roman times and because of this more spoons have survived than any other type of flatware.

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Collecting Silver Candlesticks – Georgian Silver Candlesticks to Today

by on 18. Apr, 2010 in Antique Silver


In 1714 a new period started it was the beginning of the Georgian era and the plain silver candlestick was still popular, however they were getting increasingly taller. The typical George I candlestick was quite tall, made of Britannia silver up until 1720 with a square base and could have a family crest as the only decoration.

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Collecting Silver Candlesticks – Up to the Georgian Period

by on 17. Apr, 2010 in Antique Silver

General overview

Silver Candlesticks are one of the most popular and common collectable silver items, this is not surprising as they were used by everyone for daily lighting. Most candlesticks made before the mid 17th century are rare to find, because they were melted down for coins or because they were worn. These candlesticks were very light as they were made from thin sheets of silver, however by the late 17th century the expensive and sophisticated technique of using casting to make solid silver candlesticks had been developed by Huguenot craftsmen who fled from France.

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Collecting Silver – Silver Forming Techniques

by on 16. Apr, 2010 in Antique Silver

Understanding the different ways that silver objects are made will help Silver collectors to assess the value and authenticity of the items they are collecting.  There are various techniques available to a silversmith to allow them to produce beautiful silver objects. They are as follows:

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Care and Storage of you Silver Collection

by on 16. Apr, 2010 in Antique Silver

Once you have started to Collect Silver you will need to look after your items, depending on how heavily tarnished they are will have an effect on how you clean your items. Also storage of you Silver collection will depend on whether you are going to display your items or not. You will also have to look at insuring your collection and making sure you keep it up to date.

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Buying and Collecting Silver Checklist

by on 15. Apr, 2010 in Antique Silver

Very few people are fortunate to inherit a collection of Silver, so they have to build up their collection from scratch. Silver Collectors are very lucky that silver has a long and well documented history and takes in all the major decorative styles and there is normally quite a bit of it too choose from, so its not only available in quantity but quality as well. The only time this is not true are for rare items and items assayed in closed assay offices such as York.

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