Nickel and Chrome Plating – A Brief History

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Nickel and Chrome Plating A Brief History
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• The earliest plating was Sheffield plate, a
  combination of silver and copper that was used
  for many years to finish household items and
  buttons. It was discovered accidentally by Thomas
  Boulsover of Sheffields Cutlers Company in 1743,
  when he overheated an object he was repairing and
  the silver melted.

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• The silver and copper fused strongly and behaved
  as one when he tried to shape them. In 1770 the
  double sandwich method of Sheffield plate was
  born and was used for items which had an internal
  surface such as bowls

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• Electroplating is a process which deposits a
  layer of material to the surface of an
  object. The first patents for electroplating were
  awarded in 1840 to George and Henry Elkington in
  Birmingham.

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• This followed the discovery made by John Wright
  of Birmingham that potassium cyanide was a
  suitable electrolyte for gold and silver
  electroplating. Birmingham was where it all began
  and from here it spead throughout the world.

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• In the 1850s commercial electroplating was
  developed . Electroplating baths and equipment
  developed by the Elkingtons was scaled up to
  accommodate the plating of larger objects for
  engineering and manufacturing applications.

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• In the late 19th Century electric generators
  improved the process considerably. Higher
  currents and improved components meant that
  plated objects could be produced in bulk.

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• The two World Wars and the growing aviation
  industry brought further developments to the
  process and equipment evolved from manually
  operated tanks to automated equipment capable of
  high output.

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• Dont confuse Nickel Plate with Nickel Silver
  sometimes known as German silver which was a base
  metal used for electroplated wares (EPNS) such as
  cutlery and silverware zips, musical instruments
  and jewellery.

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• This was an alloy which contained no silver, was
  named due to its silver colour, but is actually
  an alloy of 60 copper, 20zinc and 20 nickel.
  It was ideal as the base to which much plating
  was done. It became readily available in sheet
  from from the 1860s.

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• Lots of  decorative items were enhanced by
  plating, you can probably think of many.
  Jewellery, Cutlery, buttons, bathroom fittings,
  car and motor cycle parts and light casings, etc.
  Door Furniture was plated in nickel and later in
  chrome.

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• The highly polished shiny finishes on door
  knockers, door knobs, letter plates and
  escutcheons made bold statements on front doors
  and required no polishing.

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• We are not sure how widely plating was used for
  door furniture or window fittings during the
  second half of the 19th Century. If anyone has
  any knowledge on this please leave a comment, we
  would be interested.

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• We know the Victorians favoured brass which they
  kept highly polished and we know that there are
  very few examples of early plated reclaimed knobs
  and knockers on the market today.

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• This may be because it was not in wide use but
  also because perhaps the early nickel plate did
  not last on high use items.

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• In summary then, we think that nickel plate on
  door knobs and knockers would date back to late
  19th early 20th century and that chrome plate
  came a bit later approximately 1920 on. We hope
  this advice will help in selecting the right look
  for your period door.

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• To know more information, visit us

http//www.priorsrec.co.uk/