Acanthus Leaves: Acanthus leaves are stylized foliage motifs derived from the Acanthus plant, often used in architectural decoration and art. This decorative element has been widely utilized in various artistic styles, symbolizing both beauty and the connection between nature and art across different historical periods. They were a key decorative feature in the Corinthian order, which became prominent in classical Greek architecture and was later adopted by the Romans.

Aestheticism: Aestheticism was an art movement or era during the late 19th century that valued the appearance of literature, music, fonts and the arts over their functions. According to aestheticism, art should be produced to be beautiful, rather than to teach a lesson, a sentiment best illustrated by the slogan “art for art’s sake.”

Alloy: A mixture of two or more metals usually formulated for the purpose of imparting or increasing specific characteristics or properties, such as ductility.

Alpaca Silver: Alpaca silver is a common name for a metal alloy of copper, nickel, and occasionally other metals, such as zinc, tin, lead or cadmium. It is also referred to as nickel silver or German silver.

Annealing: Process by which silver is softened through applying heat. It is a heat treatment that alters the physical and chemical properties of a material to increase its ductility and reduce its hardness. The heating (softening) of metal after it has been work-hardened with steel tools is necessary between the raising and forging stages. Annealing is also used to remove tension in a piece of metal before brazing, helping to reduce warpage.

Applied: Made separately, then added to the body of an object, including a cast or rolled wire border, which is soldered to the article.

Arch: Refers to the height of the arch found in sterling silver shoehorns, which also strengthens the horn portion of a shoehorn, whether it is a low arch, medium arch or high arch.

Art Deco: Art Deco, short for the French Arts Décoratifs, or Decorative Arts, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first appeared in Paris in the 1910s, before World War Il, and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920s to early 1930s. Art Deco has its origins in bold geometric forms of the Vienna Secession and Cubism, representing luxury, glamour, exuberance and faith in social and technological progress.

Art Nouveau: Art Nouveau, Jugendstil and Successionist, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied arts, especially the decorative arts. A style inspired by natural forms and flowing styles, such as the sinuous curves of plants and flowers. Art Nouveau and its natural forms were popular from about 1890 to 1910.

Assay: Analysis of a metal to determine its purity. It is impractical for a refiner to refine each individual shipment of scrap separately. To keep the operation efficient, a sample is taken of each refining shipment to determine its precious metal content. Drilling samples are taken from each end of the bullion. The assay laboratory does a miniature refining process on the two samples to determine the precious content. The bullion karat is actually determined by the percentage of fine gold left following the assaying process. For example, 2-100 milligram samples are taken. The samples are wrapped in lead, placed onto cupels and put into a special assay furnace. As the samples become molten, the base metals, including the lead, vaporize or absorb into the cupels, leaving only the precious metal on top. The precious metal buttons are dissolved in the acid so that the gold content can be determined. The remaining samples are reweighed. If the 100 milligram samples now weigh only 50 milligrams, this means that there is 50% fine gold in the bullion.

Base Metal: Any combination of alloys of non-precious metals of comparatively low value to which a coating or plating of silver is usually applied. Same as “pot metal” and

“white metal.”

Beaded: Decorated with a narrow band of adjacent bead-like balls.

Belting: Process of putting a flat, horizontal edge on the bowl of a spoon by applying it to an endless belt covered with Carborundum and glue.

Blank: Piece of flat sheet silver stock used in die stamping.

Blanking: Process by which the spoon and fork blanks are cut from the sheet metal.

Brass: An alloy of copper and zinc, which has a nice yellow color.

Brazilian Silver: The in late 19th and early 20th Centuries, nickel silver flatware items were sold under a variety of euphemisms, including Brazilian Silver. These all tend to be silvery-looking alloys. They were advertised as being a superior alternative to silver plated wares because they never lost or wore through the silver plating. However, Brazilian Silver was not silverplated.

Brazing: This form of soldering utilizes high temperature alloys to join high temperature metals. When brazing sterling, care must be used to prevent fire scale or fire stain, which is formed at higher temperatures then soldering.

Bright-Cut: A type of engraving produced by short, repetitive strokes of a cutting tool that was exceptionally reflective in candlelight.

Bright Finish: Highly polished, mirror-like finish produced by use of different grades of jeweler’s rouge on a polishing wheel.

Bronze: An alloy chiefly of copper and tin.

Britannia Metal: A composition of 90% tin, 2% copper and 8% antimony.

Brushing: Process of removing file marks and scratches with pumice and oil on a hairbrush.

Buffing: A disc used in polishing which is made up using a number of pieces of cloth.

Burnishing: Process by polishing by rubbing a highly polished steel tool of bloodstone over the surface of the metal

Butler Finish: A satin finish produced by a revolving wheel of wire, which makes many tiny scratches, giving the article a mellow surface luster, originally the result of years of hand rubbing by English butlers. Patented by James J. Reilly of Brooklyn Silver Co.

Cast or Casting: The method of duplicating an object by pouring molten metal into a hollow mold formed by the original object. Almost any jewelry object, which can be made by hand can be reproduced by the lost wax or centrifugal casting process. These reproductions are called “castings.”

Cast Border: An applied border made of cast silver.

Cartouche: An area surrounded by ornamentation and reserved for engraving, usually an area left “empty” or “blank” in order to engrave a monogram. See “escutcheon”

Chasing: The technique of detailing by hand on the front surface of a metal article with various hammer-struck punches. Decoration created by hammering the surfaces of an object with small punches. Also referred to as “chase work.”

Coin Silver: Sterling is 925/1000 parts pure silver and is a legally enforceable standard. Coin is more variable; the purity of metal matching, in theory, that of contemporary currency. Occasionally, during periods of shortage, coins were literally used as metal stock, especially in the colonial era. Because of the multiplicity of coinage in use, it has varied from 835/1000 to 925/1000. It was never an enforceable standard like sterling, but was a means for silversmiths, lacking a national standard of assay, to assure clients of the quality of their silver. By the 1820s, with flat-rolled silver stock readily available, it became an arbitrary benchmark set at 900/1000 and it remained so until the 1850s, when the British Sterling Standard was adopted by Gorham, Tiffany, and others.

Coloring: Process of polishing with rouge to give a bright finish.

Commercial Silver: Silver that is 999/1000 fine or higher.

Crimping: A rapid raising process by forming radiating valleys from the center to the outer edge of a metal object then raised. Generally used on thinner gauge metal.

DWT: Pennyweight is abbreviated as DWT, grams x 643=DWT, 20DWT=one ounce.

Danish Silver: Silverware made in Denmark is 830/1000 fine silver if made to minimum Danish standards. 925/1000 fine silver is made for export.

???Deepsilver/Deep Silvering: The terms Deepsilver or Deep Silver indicates that a thin bar of sterling silver was set into the wear points of a piece of silverplate flatware, where it would rest on a table as a method of making the wear less visible. The term and practice has been confused ever since.

Desert Pearls: Navajo Pearls and Desert Pearls are traditionally made by Navajo or Diné silversmiths. The beads are round or squashed and either smooth or stamped. The “seed” bead is a round silver bead that has been squashed, so it is shorter than it is wide, and it has a more defined seam, which makes it appear like a seed.

Die Cutting: The process by which a design or pattern is cut out of a piece of steel to form a “die” from which a quantity of similar articles can be stamped or or impressed. See “sinking.”

Ductility: Capability of being drawn out or hammered thin. Gold is the most ductile of all metals.

E.P.C. and EPC: Electroplated silver on copper.

E.P.B.M. and EPBM: Electroplated silver on Britannia metal.

E.P.N.S. and EPNS: Electroplated silver on nickel silver.

E.P.W.M. and EPWM: Electroplated silver on white metal.

** Edwardian Period•

Electroplating: This process was introduced in 1842 and is used in making silver plated wares. By this process a layer of silver is electrically deposited on a base metal. (See Silver Plate)

** Elizabethan Period:

Embossing: Making raised designs on the surface of metal from the reverse side, strictly applicable to hammered work. Process of ornamenting by stamping the metal with a die. The process of decorating by striking or impressing the metal into a die with force. See also Repoussé.

(move) Engraving: The process of hand decorating metal by cutting shallow lines into the surface of the metal with engraving tools, such as a sharp graver, reproducing a design or artwork, embellishing metal or other material with patterns using a stamping tool or drill, which has been drawn on a metal article. Unlike machine engraving, hand engraving removes metal when cutting. Bright cutting is another form of engraving, which when viewed is very reflective because of its flat, angled cut. This was a popular technique in mid-Victorian times.

Engine Turning: The process of decorating through means of a cutting tool controlled by a craftsman following the design which is applied to the silver from a master pattern or stencil. This type of decoration is most often confined to toilet ware and novelties. When was it first used…most often found on watch faces, etc.

** Escutcheon:

Etching: Process of ornamenting metal by eating it away with acid.

** Etruscan: Heavily influenced by ancient Greek religion with Pantheon Gods

** Fiddleback Horn:

Filigree: Ornamental work in which fine wire, usually of gold or silver, is twisted and soldered into intricate patterns.

Fine Silver: Better than 999/1000 pure. It is too soft for practical fabrication and is mainly used in the form of anodes or sheets for plating.

Finial: The topmost portion of an object, often on the lid, and usually quite decorative.

Finishing: The general term applied to the various processes of polishing silver.

Flat Chasing: Decoration on the flat surfaces created by small punches and a hammer.

Flatware: Eating utensils, commonly the spoon, fork and knife together with serving pieces and other items.

Fluted: Decorated with parallel vertical groves.

A process that has as its primary purpose: the alteration of the original thickness and cross-section of metal. This is usually done through hammering wire, rods of metal, ingots, or heavy sheet stock.

Forming: A process which has as its primary purpose: altering a sheet of metal so that it changes planes, three-dimensionally. Changes in the metal’s thickness are incidental byproducts of the process of forming.

German Silver: Another name for nickel silver. It’s a composition of 10% nickel, 50% copper, and 49% zinc. It was first made in Germany during the early 19th Century in imitation of the much older Chinese alloy known as paktong. German Silver contains NO silver.

Gild, Gilded, Gilding & Gilt: The process of depositing a thin layer of gold onto a metal surface. The process of electro-plating a layer of pure gold onto another metal, a modern form of gilding.

Gold Wash: Describes products that have an extremely thin electroplating of gold (less than .175 microns thick). This will wear away more quickly than gold plate, gold-filled, or gold electroplate. It is not gold plated. Instead, gold is applied through dipping or burnishing the metal.

* *Gothic Style

Greek Key: An angular line of ornamentation in the shape of alternating and interlocking

* *Guilloché

Hall Mark: The official mark of the Goldsmith’s Company or other assay office or “Hall” in England, stamped on articles of gold or silver to indicate their purity. In America, the Hall Mark is the word “Sterling”, followed by the name or mark of a reputable manufacturer.

An official mark stamped or laser-engraved on silver or gold articles by a country’s assay office to attest to the purity of the precious metal tested (e.g., 14k, 18k, 10k, 9k, Sterling, .925, .840, .800, or an image of a “rampant lion as used in Great Britain). Hallmarks were required by law, and indicate the maker, date and place of manufacture.

There is usually a fourth mark that certifies that the object meets a minimum standard of purity.

Hammered Finish: A hammered finish is done with repeated taps on the surface of the metal with a small, flat-headed or pointed hammer, giving an uneven or a faceted surface to the silver or gold piece.

Hand Wrought Silver: An article shaped and decorated from a flat piece of silver by a craftsman using only hand tools and other non-mechanical aids to facilitate the use and manipulation of such hand tools.

Holloware/Hollow Ware: Refers to a hollow sterling silver handle in shoehorns, cutlery, and dinnerware by attaching a sterling silver handle to the “horn”, blade, tines, etc. Holloware handles are made of two hollow halves soldered together as in a sterling silver hollow handle shoehorn.

House Mark: A mark stamped or laser-engraved by the company (e.g. Gorham, Reed & Barton, Tiffany) that created the object for its own line or for another retailer, such as Shreve, Crump & Low, J E Caldwell, etc.

**Japanesque Style:

Lap Over Border: An article is said to have a rolled edge or lap over or lapped border when the metal has been rolled over the edge and spun/turned under to give the effect of a rounded edge. Commonly found in sterling silver shoehorns and cutlery.

Laquering: Process of coating silverware with cellulose laquer.

Makers Mark: The distinguishing mark of the individual silversmith, whether it be a name or artistic mark stamped on an object created by an individual silversmith or jeweler.

**MCM: See Mid-Century Modern:

** Medallion:

** Mid-Century Modern: Also known as MCM.

Mirror Finish: A term applied to highly polished finish, commonly found in the horn portion of a sterling silver shoehorn.

* *Modern Period ** Monogram:

Motif: The dominant feature of a design.

Nickel Silver: A composition of 10% nickel, 50% copper, and 40% zinc. It contains no silver at all. Also known as German Silver.

Non-Tarnish Silver: Produced by alloying silver with cadmium or by the application of a thin plating of rhodium or palladium on the surface.

Old Sheffield Plate: Crafted by fusing silver to both sides of a base metal, creating a “silver sandwich” around it. This was a widely used method from 1765-1840.

overlay:

Oxidizing: Accenting the beauty of ornamentation by the application of an oxide, which darkens metal wherever applied, especially in recesses. Shadows and highlights are created which give depth and character to the silver. Some methods of cleaning silver will remove this oxide.

Patina: Natural darkening in silver that is seen in the recesses of ornamental pieces and engraving. As applied to silver it refers to the soft, lustrous finish the metal acquires over time from polishing, handling, and years of use. It does not refer to tarnish or dirt.

Patinate/Repatinate: To apply or reapply a chemical to sterling silver that imparts a soft, lustrous patina into the recesses of a sterling silver article, appearing to have developed naturally over time, enhancing engravings and details with a three-dimensional appearance. This process is sometimes applied to objects that have had their darkening removed from dishwashers or chemical strippers and dips, such as Tarnex.

Pennyweight: Abbreviated as DWT, grams x .643=DWT, 20DWT = one ounce

Pewter: A somewhat dull silver-colored alloy of tin, antimony, and copper. Pewter items are described and marked as such if they contain at least 90% tin.

Piercing: A form of decoration produced by cutting away parts of the metal with cutting dies, punching tools, or in the case of hand piercing, with a thin steel blade.

Planishing: The act of hammering or refining or smoothing the surface of a metal object with highly polished hammer faces. This process refines the surface after raising and may be used as a decorative element. But great care must be used, as even a speck of dust will make an impression in the metal being hammered.

Polishing: The process of refining a metal surface by use of abrasive compounds applied by hand or a polishing wheel attached to a long-spindled motorized arbor which runs at high speed. Various finishes may be obtained with a wide variety of abrasive compounds applied to the polishing wheels such as rouge-this compound impart the rightest finish. More abrasive compounds will produce less reflective finishes, emphasizing the object’s form.

Precious Metals: Gold, silver and platinum group metals are known as the precious metals. Some craftsmen refer to these metals as the “noble metals”.

Quadruple Silverplate: Silver items of some of the highest quality made with quadruple plate during the later pat of the 19th century. Within the silversmith and silver manufacturing industry, items marked “Standard” silver plate indicated that only 2 troy ounces of pure silver were used to silver electroplate 144 teaspoons, but “Quadruple” silverplate used 8 troy ounces of silver to plate the same 144 spoons. Also called, “quadruple plate.”

Raising: The technique of forming a flat sheet of metal over a cast iron T-stake or head, forming and compressing the metal to take a hollow form. This labor-intensive process is the purest form of silversmithing.

Raw Edge: Term to Hollow Ware pieces with an edge that has not been turned over or mounted with a border.

Refinish: To make an object look new by removing all scratches and imperfections.

Repatinate: See Patinate.

Repoussé: Ornamentation with decorative elements that have been pushed up above the surface of an object. A process used to roughly emboss a metal object from the back or inside with larger punches than those used in chasing. See “Chasing.”

Restore: To repair and finish an object to its original condition.

Ribbed: Ornamentation with a series of parallel or radiating lines.

Rolled Edge: An edge of a holloware piece rolled back to form a border. See “Lapped Border.”

Satin Finish: A means of producing a matte or frosted finish on silver and other metals. Also called a frosted finish or butler’s finish.

Scroll: An ornamental line resembling a loosely rolled piece of paper. It is a line that curves in on itself.

Sheffield Plate: Originally made by bonding sheet silver to copper, rolling and manufacturing the bonded metals into hollowware. Imitations have been made by electroplating silver on copper and are sometimes erroneously advertised as Sheffield Plate.

* *Shoulders:

** Shovel Style Shoehorn:

Silver Gilt: Made of silver that has been completely covered with a very thin coating of gold.

Silverplate: Made by electroplating fine silver, which is deposited onto a base metal alloy, usually nickel silver or Britannia metal, sometimes brass or copper. See “electroplating.”

Silversmith: One who fashions silver objects and wrought items such as forged flatware. The first silversmiths who settled in America set up our banking system and produced its first coinage.

Snarling: Is the process of raising the metal on holloware pieces from behind in repoussé chasing.

Soldering: A low-temperature form of brazing. This technique is used for joining lowtemperature base metals such as pewter and does not possess the strength of brazing solders when joining higher temperature metals such as silver.

Stainless Steel: An alloy composed mainly of steel, nickel, and chromium, having generally greater strength than ordinary steel and possessing unusually high resistance to corrosion, tarnish, or stain by air, water and most acids.

Sterling Inlay: The terms Sterling Inlay and Sterling Inlaid were used by the Holmes and Edwards Company, from late Victorian times until the brand was abandoned by International Silver in the 1960s. The successor brand, Deepsilver, also was made this way. Flatware would have a small block of sterling set into the piece at the wear points where the piece would rest on the table. This was a method of making the wear less visible. The term and practice has confused people ever since.

Sterling Silver: An alloy of fine silver (92.5%) and copper (7.5%) most commonly used when fashioning hollowware and flatware because of its strength. Fine silver (99.99% pure) is generally too soft when producing large functional objects. U.S. law states that all objects marked “sterling”, “925” or “925/1000” MUST contain no less than 92.5% fine silver. The word STERLING is the best known and most respected marking in use today.

???Surface Plate: A perfectly level steel, cast iron or granite table of any dimension, used to check the level and flatness of an object. Often used in conjunction with the surface gauge.

Taxco Silver: The small town in Mexico where William Spratling, an American set up his workshop in 1929Many other siversmiths eventually set up shop here making Taxco the center of silversmithing in Mexico. Much silver is made in Taxco to this day, but the earlier silver, up to about 1970 is considered collectible. In 1979 the government began to require silversmiths to stamp a registrations mark consisting of two letters and several numbers, and this mark should be found on almost all newer pieces.

** Tongue Style Shoehorn:

Touchmark: The name, initials or symbol stamped on an object by its maker.

Triple Silverplate: This used three times as much pure silver as “Standard” and % less than “Quadruple” silverplate items. Silverplate hollowware items, which have been resilvered over the years, may have more or less silver than was originally plated.

Troy Ounce: From the troy system of weight used for measuring precious metals, based on a pound of 12 ounces and an ounce of 20 penyweights or 480 grains. Precious metals are measured in troy ounces worldwide.

Victorian Plate: Plated silver items made during the period c. 1840-1900 by the process of electroplating silver to objects.

** Victorian Period Silver: The designation given to the period from approximately 1837 when Vitoria became Queen of England until 1901 when she died. This long period is divided into early (approximately 1840-1860), mid (approximately 1860-1880) and late (approximately 1880-1901) since it covers a wide span of time, and a number of distinctive design trends. This period was preceded by the Georgian period, and succeeded by the Edwardian period after Victoria died in 1901, and her son Edward became king.

White Metal and White Metal Alloy: An alloy, usually containing two or more of the following elements: tin, copper, antimony, lead