antique pair old sheffield regency wine coolers c1820 19th century

This is a wonderful and rare pair of antique Regency Period, Old Sheffield Plate, silver on copper wine coolers, circa 1820 in date.

Each is of globular form with a circular pedestal foot, an exceptional pair of decorative lion head hoop handles and embellished with gadrooned rims.This exceptional pair of Regency wine coolers retain the original detachable covers and liners.
There is no mistaking the unique and fabulous quality and design which is sure to make this a treasured set by any discerning collector.
Condition:In really excellent condition with only minor signs of wear commensurate with age and use, please see photos for confirmation of condition. Dimensions in cm:Height 20 x Width 19 x Depth 19Dimensions in inches:Height 8 inches x Width 7 inches x Depth 7 inches
Our reference: 09475
Old Sheffield Plate -or ‘fused plate' as it is sometimes known, was the first commercially viable method of plating metal. The material was accidentally invented byThomasBoulsover, ofSheffield'sCutlersCompany, in 1743. While trying to repair the handle of a customer's decorative knife, he heated it too much and the silver started tomelt. When he examined the damaged handle, he noticed that the silver and copper had fused together very strongly. Experiments showed that the two metals behaved as one when he tried to reshape them, even though he could clearly see two different layers.Boulsoverset up in business, funded byStrelleyPeggeofBeauchief, and carried out further experiments in which he put a thin sheet of silver on a thick ingot of copper and heated the two together to fuse them. When the composite block was hammered or rolled to make it thinner, the two metals were reduced in thickness at similar rates. Using this method,Boulsoverwas able to make sheets of metal which had a thin layer of silver on the top surface and a thick layer of copper underneath. When this new material was used to make buttons, they looked and behaved like silver buttons but were a fraction of the cost.The technique Boulsover developed was to sandwich an ingot of copper between two plates of silver, tightly bind it with wire, heat it in a furnace and then mill it out in to sheet, from which objects could be made.

Antiques.co.uk Ref: 6RVNWD8JH

Width (cm):

19

Height (cm):

20

Depth (cm):

19

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