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Flatters and stampers: secrets of the 18th Century London silver trade
On November 19th, 2009 John Culme wrote on the subject of Uncategorized.
a George III silver teapot, maker’s mark of Hester Bateman, London, 1783,
assembled in the manner of a kit from sheet silver, with applied mechanically milled beaded borders,
sold at Christie’s, London, 7 March 1990, lot 130
(photo: courtesy of Christie’s, London)
When in 1959 David S. Shure published his monograph on Hester Bateman, its subtitle was Queen of English Silversmiths. The author gave the impression of a craftswoman adept at all the skills of a working silversmith. Indeed, one of his readers was afterwards very shocked to be told that Mrs Bateman may never actually have worked at the bench. It was her sons, Peter (1740-1825) and Jonathan (1747-1791), both trained silversmiths, who seem to have run the business. Under them Bateman’s became one of London’s busiest silver workshops. In addition to making a wide range of domestic and decorative items, they were also silver flatters: suppliers of sheet silver for use by other workshops. By 1802 their old horse-powered flatting mill had been replaced by a steam engine.
Behind latter-day myths spun around 18th Century London silver trade characters like Hester Bateman lies the reality of a highly competitive industry, ready to embrace new ideas and techniques. The notion that silversmiths invariably prepared their own sheet metal preparatory to raising hollowware, for instance, is dispelled when we find that there were several specialist silver flatters working from the 1730s and ’40s.
Other mechanical aids were also evident at this time, like the Clerkenwell stamping press advertised in 1765, ‘Where all Sorts of Toys and Trinkets are made in Gold, Silver, and Metal Gilt.’ And when Ebenezer Coker, the salver maker, announced his retirement (1774), he offered for sale ‘a large Collection of Metal Stamps for Waiters.’
detail of the back of a silver tablespoon bowl, die-stamped with a galleon,
maker’s mark of (?) William Cripps, London, 1758, sold at Bonhams, London, 24 Mar 2005, lot 191
(photo: courtesy of Bonhams, London)
- Several items from Ebenezer Coker‘s workshop are currently featured on myfamilysilver.com, as are various items from the Bateman factory.
John Culme, who for many years has been connected with Sotheby's Silver Department, is author of several books and articles, including The Directory of Gold and Silversmiths, 1838-1914, published in 1987, and co-author with Nicholas Rayner of The Jewels of the Duchess of Windsor. He is also a Liveryman of the Goldsmiths' Company, London.
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