Silver

About

Silver is softer and cheaper than gold, brilliant white when polished and inclined to darken as it reacts with sulphur in the air. Because it can be hammered, raised, chased, engraved and cast, it has long been the metal of fine tableware and church plate. Many countries developed hallmarking to guarantee its purity, and English marking goes back to around 1300.

Huguenot silversmiths such as Paul de Lamerie brought elaborate Rococo work to 18th-century London, and Paul Revere worked as a silversmith in Boston. In the 20th century Georg Jensen's Copenhagen workshop, founded in 1904, gave silver soft, organic forms, while Jean Puiforcat in Paris brought it the crisp geometry of Art Deco. Silver also underlies early photography: daguerreotypes are images on silver-coated copper plates, and gelatin silver prints dominated the 20th century. Look for hallmarks, hammer marks and grey tarnish in the recesses.