Various Qualities of Silver.
[A] See observations on Depreciation of Cost Price of Silver in Preface to Fourth Edition (pp. vii, viii), and the new Table of Cost Prices of Alloys in this Chapter, following the Preface (p. ix).
The chemical and physical properties of fine silver having been dealt with in a preceding chapter, we shall not refer to them again in detail; but, as we have already observed that it is sometimes employed in its pure state for special purposes, it is desirable that we should point out the uses to which it has been applied, especially those of a mechanical nature. With reference to the latter part of the subject we will now proceed to describe the commercial utility of the metal.
One of the greatest demands for pure silver—if not the greatest of all—is in the manufacture of fine filigree work, a branch of industry extensively practised on the Continent. This kind of silversmith’s work was attempted to be revived in this country during the years 1864-5, Birmingham and London being the principal places where the manufacture was carried on; but the success of the undertaking as a staple industry must, at the most, have been only a partial one, for it soon declined, and the trade was thus virtually left, as before, in the hands of our Eastern competitors; most of whom produce splendid specimens of the art of filigree and fine wire-working. In India this work is wonderfully performed, and it is truly marvellous to witness the beautiful handiwork of the natives who practise this craft. Their productions are quite the work of the true artist, almost every article representing Nature in some of her various forms, such as flowers, animals, serpents, &c., and these are so skilfully imitated that no one could possibly dispute either the faithfulness of the representation or the ability of the workman. This is all the more surprising, because in India the natives have not the modern mechanical appliances which we possess in this country. The jeweller there represents to some extent our travelling tinker, only with this difference, that the travelling tinker in this country is generally an inexperienced and unskilful workman, whereas the Indian, if we are to judge him by his work, must be just the reverse.
Filigree wire-work is manufactured in Italy, Germany, Norway, and Sweden, and the secret of these countries maintaining the monopoly in this branch of the silversmith’s trade is that labour there is cheap; and not in any sense because English workmen cannot make the articles in question. It is owing to this cheapness of labour and the inexpensiveness of living that our Continental competitors can beat us by underselling us in the market; and to no other cause can the production of the foreign cheap article be assigned.
In India the art of working in silver and gold has long been practised, and so particular are the workmen there about the absolute purity of the metals they use, that they refine them by melting five times, under a very strong blast heat, before commencing the work of manufacture. The principal places where these art-manufactures are carried on are in Southern India and at Trichinopoly; and in these districts the delicacy and intricacy of the workmanship are brought to the greatest possible perfection. The articles produced there are all “hand-made,” and wrought entirely with a few simple tools, such as a hammer and an anvil (both of which are highly polished and burnished), a few fine pliers, blow-pipes, burnishers, scrapers, a pair of fine dividers, and some delicate scales and weights; these, with a few perforated steel-plates for drawing the wire through, comprise the chief appliances of the travelling native jewellers. The process of the work is very simple. It is commenced by hammering out the metal upon the anvil, and when it has assumed a certain degree of thinness the dividers are next brought into requisition to mark it into certain widths, which are subsequently cut into strips and drawn into very fine wire through perforated steel-plates, a pair of strong pliers being used for the purpose. The holes in the steel-plates consist of graduated sizes, and by this means the strips of metal are soon considerably reduced; and when the proper thinness has been attained the wire is ready for the exercise of the practical skill and dexterity of the artisan, who produces from it the best filigree work in the world. Most of the native jewellers have books containing a variety of designs, but they more commonly work from memory, without any reference to patterns.
The principal localities where this description of work is produced in the highest perfection are Delhi, Cuttack, and Trichinopoly, in India; and Genoa, Paris, Florence, Malta, Norway, and Sweden. The Indian filigree work is the finest and cheapest in the world. The Maltese manufacture a very good kind, and their crosses are much admired; so also do the Chinese and Japanese, but the manufactures of these latter countries are not so tasteful as those of India, consequently they have not been so highly appreciated. Norway and Sweden produce filigree work of a very light weight; but still their productions in this art will not compare in regard to effect with the finest specimens from India.
We have said that the silver employed by the filigree worker should be in every case absolutely pure; because, when it is quite fine, it is extremely soft and pliable, so that it will remain in almost any form the artist may choose to work it, without that springiness which is found in all alloyed metals. However small might be the amount of alloy contained in the metal, the least admixture of it would produce an elasticity in the wire when pressed into form which would make it unworkable for fine filigree purposes; and in this state it would be the utter bane of the workman, as his progress would be altogether impeded in the production of his work. It is of the greatest importance that the spirals, and all the various forms required in filigree working, should remain steadily in their places when pressed into shape, without that rebounding which happens in the case of metals of an elastic nature, and in consequence of which no really first-class work can be performed in connection with this art. For such reasons as these it will be at once palpable even to the ordinary reader that fine silver should always be used in preference to alloyed in the manufacture of filigree work.