Featured Matthew Boulton goblets?

I picked up these yesterday for £4.99 each. Google says they are early 19th C Matthew Boulton. The amount of wear would suggest that they do have some age. The engraving has me perplexed though. 'Christmas 1975'. If they are a fine antique why would someone do this to them?

 

Sigh - one reason engraved dates aren't always an indicator of correct age, they may or may not have realized their age or value. Regardless, even with the engraving and quite a bit of bleeding, still nice Old Sheffield Plate and lovely to have a pair...

~Cheryl

 

Maybe they didn't. It might have played into my hands though, in that maybe the charity shop i bought them from were swayed by the engraving when pricing them up. I nearly didn't buy them. I thought they were Moroccan when I first looked at the mark.

 

I'm going to try and clean the excess polish out of them and leave it at that. Not much silver left to polish.

 

I've had the idea that Sheffield Plate was silver, thicker than foil, bonded to base metal.
So I have a puzzle about how that could have been so worn or polished away. Please forgive my ignorance...

 

Maybe they used P60 sand paper to polish them?

I'm unsure of the plating process myself. However this site says that bleeding is characteristic of OSP.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Sheffield_Plate

 

Thanks...that was very helpful!

 

Well it seems that the two metals are heated to near melting point to bond them. After the laminate of silver is applied to the copper it is then rolled and hammered. Not sure how thin the silver ends up. The repousse work would stretch the silver even more in the high points. I guess after the processing, there would be a layer in between the copper and silver that would be a mixture of the two. A bit like marble cake. One website stated that OPS should last 'generations' before showing signs of wear. So 200 years is perhaps long enough.

 

In another 100 years the later engraving will be a charming detail. Like a 17th century spoon passed down through a family with new initials added to it when it was gifted in the 18th century…or something like that. At least the engraving on your goblets was done well. Some stiff machine engraving would bother me. This doesn’t nearly as much as it could. Great finds, great price! I have a nice Boulton tray. It’s neat to own pieces made by important figures in history.

 

Yes. Could be worse. I bought a couple of silver plate tankard last year. When I peeled the price labels off they had names underneath. One of them Alistair. At least Christmas has a lot more relevance to people.

 

I’ve done fairly well selling items online that have family names or family crests on them. I just sent an 18th century piece with a crest to a grand second class estate in England. Buyer same name as crest. Crests have a wider appeal than names but names can sell. Especially a good old name like Alistair. Where some see a detractor I like to see a selling point. Smaller market but adds value to a few. If I see a plain mundane item I don’t want it. I see a mundane item with my family name/crest or my initials on it, I’m buying it for sure. Within reason.

 

Good to see you like a challenge. I think I've met one person called Alistair in my life though. That coupled with the other name on the cup really narrows down my potential customer base I think.

 

I hear you, I’ve never met a single one. I bet there are plenty though, and I bet many of them have the internet. Pretty sure that’s one of those aristocratic names in jolly old England. Hope you end up doing well.

 

Its of Scottish origin. Alasdair.

The only one I met was indeed Scottish.

With regards to the Matthew Boulton cups; I listed them on ebay last night and have been informed that the mark is incorrect. Reproduction. Never mind

 

Yes, very Scottish. And if there is one thing Scots don't like it is being called English.
I have Scottish in-laws (or outlaws as we call each other) and used to visit Scotland a few times a year, so I have met quite a lot of Alistairs, short: Ali. The original Gaelic is Alasdair, which means Alexander.

 

Informed by someone that knows?

 

Randomer on ebay. I have now cross referenced the mark and mine does look a fair bit different to the genuine Boulton marks online. The marks on mine also look like they have been added after the base was soldered into place. The metal is bent in from the force. If you look at genuine Boulton pieces online, there is no indentation. The stamps I guess were added to the base with a dye or block behind, then the base soldered on. A lot of this is my supposition but makes sense no?

 

I used this page as my original source. They are an antique dealer. Does this guarantee their honesty?

https://www.trocadero.com/stores/ra...hew-Boulton-Old-Sheffield-Silver-Plate-Goblet

 

Arghh I wrote UK and erased it thinking England. I’d of been technically safe with the first lol.

I didn’t love your marks when I first saw them. Everyone here seemed okay with them and I looked back at his marks and figured yours might just be very faded. Here are the marks from the two pieces I’ve had.
Who knows if your eBay person is correct. Not me. You can always list it and say “marks that appear appear to be those of Matthew Boulton”. Auction houses often pull careful word play like that. Easy to miss if you’re not paying attention. I’ve learned the hard way.