Silver (household)
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202278106
2008-03-31T12:22:14Z
Cydebot
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Robot - Moving category Decorative art to Decorative arts per [[WP:CFD|CFD]] at [[Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2008 March 25]].
{{Unreferenced|date=February 2008}}
'''Household silver''' (''the silver'', ''the plate'') comprises [[dishware]], [[cutlery]] and other household items made of [[sterling silver|sterling]], [[Britannia silver|Britannia]] or [[Sheffield plate]] silver. Sometimes bought in sets or combined to form sets, such as a set of silver [[candlestick]]s or a [[silver tea service]].
[[Image:CoburgPatternSilverSpoons.jpg|thumb|right|200px|<sub>Set of [[Coburg]] pattern spoons</sub>]]
Silver requires a good deal of care, as it tarnishs and must be hand polished, since careless or machine polishing ruins the [[patina]] and can completely erode the silver layer in [[Sheffield plate]].
In a [[great house]], the [[footman|footmen]] cleaned and polished the silver, overseen by the [[butler]] who was responsible for it. In middle-income households the few items of silver or silverplate may be displayed on a [[sideboard|buffet]] or in a [[cabinet]] or [[china cabinet]] or [[breakfront]], but a larger collection of silver is usually locked away in a secure room or a special [[silver safe]].
<gallery>
Image:Bath Candlestick one of a pair.jpg|
Image:Bath Candlestick centre.jpg
Image:Bath Candlestick maker's mark on base.jpg|<sub>Mark of Robert Cooper</sub>
Image:Waiter 1732.jpg|<sub>De Lamerie</sub>
Image:BeachcroftSalverSalts&CreamJug.jpg|<sub>pair of salts, salver and cream jug bearing arms of family of Beachcroft (Arms granted 12 Nov. 1717: ''Bendy of siz argent and gules three stags heads cabossed or'', Crest: ''a beech tree proper behind six park pales argent'')</sub>
Image:Seven Bisse-Challoner Salvers.jpg|<sub>seven salvers (c.1735-1750). (Arms of Bisse (granted Ireland 25 May 1637): ''sable three escalops in pale argent a canton ermine and a crescent for difference or''. Crest: 'on a mount vert two snakes or, interlaced respecting each other'')</sub>
Image:DublinSterlingSilverHotWaterJug.jpg|<sub>A c1770 hot-water jug, Dublin</sub>
Image:Paul Storr single caryatid.jpg|<sub>Paul Storr</sub>
Image:GeorgianCanteenLaidOut.jpg|<sub>GS & WF canteen laid out</sub>
Image:CoburgCanteen.jpg|<sub>Coburg pattern canteen</sub>
Image:DetailofSilverTeapot.jpg|<sub>detail of a teapot</sub>
Image:GeorgianSilverForks.jpg|<sub>detail of GS & WF forks. George Smith III and William Fearn</sub>
</gallery>
==See also==
* [[Holloware]]
* [[Flatware]]
[[Category:Kitchenware]]
[[Category:Decorative arts]]
[[Category:Silver]]