Editing Silversmith

{{short description|Craftsperson who makes objects from silver or gold}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2010}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
[[File:Rennen Silver sarcophagus of Saint Stanislaus.jpg|thumb|[[Repoussé and chasing|Embossed]] silver sarcophagus of [[Stanislaus of Szczepanów|Saint Stanislaus]] in the [[Wawel Cathedral]], created in the main centers of 17th-century European silversmithery – [[Augsburg]] and [[Gdańsk]]<ref name=artinpl/>]]

A '''silversmith''' is a [[metalworking|metalworker]] who crafts objects from [[silver]]. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''[[goldsmith]]'' are not exact [[synonym]]s, as the techniques, training, history, and [[guild]]s are (or were, at least) largely the same but differed in that the end product may vary greatly (as may the scale of objects created).

==History==
[[File:John Singleton Copley - Paul Revere - WGA5216.jpg|thumb|[[Paul Revere]] with a silver teapot and some of his engraving tools]]
In the ancient [[Near East]] (as holds true today), the value of silver was lower than the value of gold, allowing a silversmith to produce objects and store them as stock. Historian [[Jack Ogden (jewellery historian)|Jack Ogden]] states that, according to an edict written by Diocletian in 301 A.D., a silversmith was able to charge 75, 100, 150, 200, 250, or 300 ''[[Denarius|denarii]]'' per Roman pound for material produce. At that time, [[Guild|guilds]] of silversmiths formed to arbitrate disputes, protect its members' welfare, and educate the public of the trade.<ref name=" Ogden">{{cite book
  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oCBt7B7nt5QC&pg=PA58
  |first=Jack
  |last=Ogden
  |author-link=Jack Ogden (jewellery historian)
  |title=Ancient Jewellery
  |year=1992
  |publisher=University of California Press
  |isbn=978-0-520-08030-0
 |access-date=2023-07-02
  |via=Google Books
}}</ref>

Silversmiths in [[medieval Europe]] and [[medieval England|England]] formed guilds and transmitted their tools and techniques to new generations via the [[apprentice]] tradition. Silverworking guilds often maintained consistency and upheld standards at the expense of innovation. Beginning in the 17th century, artisans emigrated to America and experienced fewer restrictions. As a result, silverworking was one of the trades that helped to inaugurate the technological and industrial history of the United States silverworking shift to industrialization.

Very exquisite and distinctly designed silverware, especially the artisanal craft that goes by the name of [[Swami silver]], emerged from the stable of watchmaker-turned-silversmith [[P.Orr & Sons|P.Orr and Sons]]<!-- "P.Orr" is the company's stylistic choice and does not take a space --> in the South Indian city of Madras (now Chennai) during the [[British Raj|British rule]] in 1875.

==Tools, materials and techniques==
[[File:T&T Hand-hammered dish.jpg|thumb|right|Dish made by hand-hammering]]
{{div col |colwidth=22em}}
*[[saw]] (jeweler's saw)
*[[snips]]
* flat file
* jewelers' files
* planishing [[hammer]]
* raising hammer
* cross-pein hammer
* ball-pein hammer
*[[anvil]]s
*[[wiktionary:stake|stakes]]
*[[swage block]]s
*[[riveting]]
*silver hard-[[solder]]
*[[Flux (metallurgy)|flux]]
**[[borax]]
**[[boric acid]]
*[[torch]] or [[Blowpipe (tool)|blow-pipe]]
*[[Pickling (metal)|pickle]] (dilute sulphuric acid or organic acids which are used to remove [[firescale]]<ref>{{cite web|last=Brain|first=Charles|title=Pickling Notes|url=http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/pickling-notes.htm|publisher=The Ganoksin Project|access-date=15 June 2013}}</ref>)
*[[buffing wheel]]s
*[[polishing]] compounds.
*[[chasing]]
*[[repoussé]]
*[[engraving]]
{{div col end}}

Silversmiths saw or cut specific shapes from sterling and fine silver sheet metal and bar stock; they then use hammers to form the metal over anvils and stakes. Silver is hammered cold (at room temperature). As the metal is hammered, bent, and worked, it 'work-hardens'. [[Annealing (metallurgy)|Annealing]] is the heat-treatment used to make the metal soft again. If metal is work-hardened, and not annealed occasionally, the metal will crack and weaken the work.

Silversmiths can use [[casting]] techniques to create knobs, handles and feet for the hollowware they are making.

After forming and casting, the various pieces may be assembled by [[soldering]] and [[riveting.]]

During most of their history, silversmiths used [[charcoal]] or [[Coke (fuel)|coke]] fired [[forge]]s, and lung-powered [[Blowpipe (tool)|blow-pipe]]s for soldering and annealing. Modern silversmiths commonly use gas burning torches as heat sources. A newer method is [[laser beam welding]].

Silversmiths may also work with [[copper]] and [[brass]], especially when making practice pieces, due to those materials having similar working properties and being more affordable than silver.

[[File:Silver band.png|thumb|upright|right|Band made of silver]]

==Notable and historical silversmiths==
{{main|:Category:Silversmiths}}

;Companies
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* [[Garrard & Co]]
* [[Hersey & Son]]{{Efn|Garrad & Co. was founded by George Wickes in London in 1722 and is still operating.}}
* [[Phipps & Robinson]]
* [[Reid & Sons]]{{Efn|Reid & Sons was founded in 1788 in Newcastle and is still operating.}}
{{div col end}}

;People
{{div col |colwidth=22em}}
* [[Acragas (silversmith)|Acragas]]
* [[Kurt Aepli]]
*[[José Velázquez de Medrano]], the most significant silversmith of his time during the [[Spanish Golden Age]]
*[[Zahroun Amara]], [[Mandaeans|Mandaean]] [[niello]] silversmith. People that are known to have owned his silver nielloware include [[Stanley Maude]], [[Winston Churchill]], the [[House of Khalifa|Bahraini royal family]], [[Farouk of Egypt|Egyptian King Farouk]], the Iraqi royal family (including kings [[Faisal I of Iraq and Syria|Faisal I]] and [[Ghazi of Iraq|Ghazi]]), and the [[British royal family]] including the [[Prince of Wales]] who became [[Edward VIII]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Morgan|first=Major H. Sandford|title=Secrets in Silver – An Ancient Handicraft|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16808461|date=17 October 1931|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=9 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Portrait of the Amara Silversmith's leader, Zahrun.|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2458|website=Australian War Memorial|access-date=9 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Advance of the Crusaders into Mesopotamia {{!}} Note: name misspelled as 'Zahroam of Amara'|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060022615|website=Imperial War Museum|access-date=9 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=هيام الخياط|title=زهرون عمارة صائغ الملوك السلاطين|date=19 January 2016|url=https://www.mandaeanunion.org/ar/mandaean-society/mandaean-figures/item/1761-%D8%B2%D9%87%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%BA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%84%D9%88%D9%83-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B7-mandaean|website=Mandaean Associations Union|access-date=27 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=زهرون عمارة .. عمل "ارگيلة " من الفضة للسلطان عبدالحميد|url=https://www.algardenia.com/qosesmenaldakera/34239-2018-02-20-11-39-58.html|date=20 February 2018|website=algardenia.com|access-date=27 January 2022}}</ref>
* [[Hester Bateman]]
* [[Peter Bentzon (silversmith)|Peter Bentzon]], the only early American silversmith of African ancestry whose silver has been identified.
* [[Jocelyn Burton]]
* [[Benvenuto Cellini]]
* Stephen Emery, early American silversmith
* [[Thomas Germain]]
* [[François-Thomas Germain]]
* [[Karl Gustav Hansen]], Danish pioneer of Scandinavian silversmith design
* [[John Hull (merchant)|John Hull]], [[Treasurer]] of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]]
* [[Isaac Hutton]]
* [[Georg Jensen]]
* [[Sampson Mordan]]
* [[Jean-Valentin Morel]], French jeweler and craftsman
* [[Henry Petzal]]
* [[Paul Revere]], American silversmith, manufacturer, and patriot
* [[Joseph Richardson Sr.]] and [[Joseph Richardson Jr.]], American silversmiths based in Philadelphia
* [[Atsidi Sani]] (Old Smith in English), the first known Navajo silversmith
* [[Alfredo Sciarrotta]]
* [[Sequoyah]], Cherokee silversmith, inventor of the Cherokee syllabary
* [[Alice Sheene]]
* [[Shepherd and Boyd|Robert Shepherd and William Boyd]]
* [[Robert Welch (designer)|Robert Welch]]
* [[Edward Winslow (silversmith)|Edward Winlsow]], early American silversmith
{{div col end}}

== See also ==
* [[Yemenite silversmithing]]
* [[Mouza Sulaiman Mohamed Al-Wardi]]
* [[Goldsmith]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=
<ref name=artinpl>{{cite web|author=Marcin Latka |title= Silver sarcophagus of Saint Stanislaus |url=https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/418905202840563452/ |work=artinpl |access-date=3 August 2019}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Silversmiths}}
* [https://www.silversmithing.com/ Society of American Silversmiths]
*Historical works
** George E. Gee, ''[https://archive.org/details/silversmithshand00geeg The Silversmith's Handbook]'' (1921)
** Wilson, H., ''[https://archive.org/details/silverworkjewelr00wils Silverwork and Jewelry: a text-book for students and workers in metal]'' (1912)

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[[Category:Arts occupations]]
[[Category:Metalworking occupations]]
[[Category:Silversmithing| ]]