The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-06-14
PLATE WARE
AWonderful Room and Its Contents
Interesting information.
Thomas J. Bowditch n Trov mines

[Thomas J. Bowditch in Troy Times.l
In Windsor Castle there is one apartment
called "The Gold Room" In that room the
gold-plate is valued at S12,0O0,Oo0 Much of
this plate is only silver-gilt good part,
however, is of solid gold and $l2, OO0,000 was
the estimated value of the whole whether
the material was gold or silver. 1t is said to
be an irksome thing to get out and lay the
table for state dinner, so enormous is the
weight. 1t is handled and placed by the
royal pages, some of them having been over
fifty years in service.
One salver in the iGold Room is of i'm
mense size @ feet in diameter), and was
made from the gold snuff boxes alone of
George ~, presented to him by various
cities and towns, the lids and inscriptions
curiously preserved on the surface In kind
of mosaic Of gold, and this salver is valued
at $4,000.
Among other curious articles here is din
ner service OF silver, presented TO Vict0ria's
uncle, William W.. when he was Duke of
Clarence, the donors being the merchants of
Liverpool. in reward for royal service ZEN
dered to them by his advocacy of the slave
trade. Forty years later, when he was King,
he signed the act of Parliament which abol-
ished slavery in the British dominions on
IL
A candelabrum of gold, to be used for
lighting the dinner table, which is among the
plate at Windsor, Is so heavy that two strong
men are required to lift it. Its value is $780,
000 There are 140 dozen of gold table and
teaspoons, of six different patterns, and gold
en- plates of various sizes sufficient to dine
$50 persons.
1t will be noticed that with all the modern
improvements and manufacture, it is easy to
detect even by the polish a silver spoon
mo- do aor,fl xr frou ana m ara ht,n rod
years ago. The old plate is heavier, owing
to its having been we'll hammered ia the
Making which reduced the thickness but re-
tained the weight
''plate" Qrom the Greek word pldtus, broad
because first applied to dishes and plates)
cannot be sold after it is completed until it
has received particular and recognizable
mark from the government that it contains
no more than the legal quantity of alloy. In
the United States, where a large quantity OF
silver and very small amount Of gold ware
is made, the purchaser Is not protected In
this manner, but must take the vendors
word for it that the metal is genuine. Re-
spectacle manufacturers indeed do stamp
the word coin with their own name and inf
tials on the plate, and, so far, this Is q pro-
lection to the purchaser.
The processes Of making gold and silver
plate are numerous, and often delicate. BY
mechanical means (pressure between steel
rollers), a thin layer of gold or silver may be
made to adhere to a thicker plate of some
cheaper metal; but true gold plate has no
such inferior layer.
The processes of rolling, casting, punch
ing, chasing, hammering, stamping, solder
ing, riveting, all come into requisition in the
manufacture of a piece of gold plate, and
also largely in that made of silver. Electro
typing, which has so largely taken the place
OF the real and valuable metal. is of recent
origin. In 1887 Thomas Spenser, a picture
frame maker in Europe, and Prof. jacob, a
great chemist in Russia. simultaneously dis
covered electro-metallargy. by means of
which inferior metals may be coated, almost
to any thickness, from deposits of gold, silver
or copper chemically held in solution.
A hundred years ago Horace Walpole mem
toned in letter from Derby that the great
est curiosity he had met on his provincial
tour was pair OF candlesticks wrought I'M
der new process. This was the plated
ware which for nearly a century was the
peculiar and profitable manufacture of the
towns of Sheffield and Birmingham Elec-
tr0-plated ware of the highest artistic merit
is manufactured in the United States, most
largely in New England.
very little silver ware, we might add very
little Jewelry, was manufactured In this
country before the beginning of the present
century. In Providence, r. l., this indus
trial art was begun about 1874 About 100
| persons were employed in it at Providence
| IN 1910. The principal production in this
line is still In Providence, where the making
| of silverware was and is carried on largely
| All through the United States electro plated
| wares have largely superseded those of solid
silver To the eye, even Of an expert. there
is no difference between the real plate and
| its counterfeit.
The mania for old china and crockery
ware, which dates pretty far back and
reached an obvious state of extravaganza, is
certainly on the wane. Collectors have dis
covered new subject for costly enthusiasm
Old silver is snpplanting old china Intrin-
sicaily 1t Is more valuable. A handsome cup
or an ornamented dish is nothing but clay at
its best and Is worth nothing when broken
into pieces. 3
On the other hand, old silver Is always
valuable, however broken or battered, as a
precious metal. Parodying couplet In one
OF Moore's Irish melodies, we may say of it !:
You may break, you may ruin the vase If you will
But the worth of the metal remains with X still