page_title: Silver overlay
section_title: Classifying
hierarchical_section_title: Silver overlay / Classifying
caption_attribution_description: English: A vase of Friedrich Wilhelm Spahr
context_page_description: Silver overlay is an electroplated coating of silver on a non-conductive surface such as porcelain or glass. Most techniques used to create silver overlay involve the use of special flux which contains silver and turpentine oil. This is then painted on the glass ornament as a design. After the painting is complete, the entire ornament is fired under relatively low heat, it is then cleaned after being quenched and cooled, then it is placed in a solution of silver. A low voltage current is run through the solution and the silver binds in the design, creating a permanent fusion of the silver with the glass.
  A much older technique of overlay, which was commonly used in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times, involves the use of a silver sheet wrapped around the ornament and then the design beaten onto the sheet or it may be burnished. This technique renders the design silhouetted against a dark backdrop and was commonly called the Aftabi design technique. This technique of overlay predates the technique that is common today, but without the use of electroplating, it was a time consuming and tedious process, which could only be accomplished by skilled artisans.
context_section_description: Early items designed and produced by Friedrich Deusch are very classical, and this was followed by an abstract phase of Art Déco in its purest form. From the 1950s, it was more a concrete style with flowers and so forth. Deusch applied silver overlay to vases, plates, coffee and tea services, and other items.
  From the outset, the firm of Alfred Veyhl had its own style. It was mostly the combination of polychromatic painted details of birds, flowers, and similar motifs, framed with silver.
  The more abstract designs are rare. Alfred, and later his son Manfred Veyhl, were the only ones who used a varnish to avoid silver oxidation. Alfred used more softer and rounder lines in his designs, whereas Manfred had a more angular, expressive style. A specialty for this company was that clients could choose from a certain range of porcelain forms and décors. The items were then produced exclusively in a single production run.
  An outstanding figure is Friedrich Wilhelm Spahr. There is evidence that he learned his skill from Friedrich Deusch (some items of both firms have very similar formal designs). He was not only an artisan but an artist in developing repeating circumferential forms in a perfect and harmonic proportion. Very often it is the pure arrangement of lines (curved or straight), or their combination, with flowers or birds. Never over-designed, but enough to divide the small surface (for example of a vase) in a self-evident and harmonious way. Like the others, not only did he design and apply the silver overlay, he also prepared the porcelain with his own enamel colors, painted the motifs and engraved the silver. Of course he did not produce all these items by himself. Spahr's factory employed about forty specialized workers. The outstanding engraved pieces show the unrivaled quality of Spahr.
  The early items typically have a thicker silver layer. One can also see the stroke of the brush which proves the overlay and painted surface were handcrafted. Printed designs were used more often on items produced later, especially those of Manfred Vehyl. These can be recognized by studying the design: if the color is flat and full of small dots, this strongly indicates a printed design. Also, the silver work on printed color designs appears not to cover the design closely, as it should.
  The three companies bought and used porcelain blanks from several well known producers such as Rosenthal, Hutschenreuther, Thomas Bavaria, Krautheim & Adelberg and marketed the finished products under their own names. They also produced silver overlay glass in the same manner. A large amount of glassware came from WMF in Geislingen, which is not far from Schwäbisch Gmünd. A respectable amount of glass to be overlaid also came from Jean Beck, a famous glass designer in Munich. Until recently, it was believed that Beck created the brilliant silver designs himself and that Deusch only produced them. However, this was not the case. As with the porcelain, Deusch and others bought the delightfully stylized glass blanks, decorated them in silver overlay, and sold them under their own names.
caption: A vase of Friedrich Wilhelm Spahr
exif: {}