Not Engraving

Roger B

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Speaking as a jeweller and not a silversmith I would suggest that a thin copper shim was shaped over the wood with burnishers and punches which was then either electro-formed or silver plated - I would opt for the latter as the silver looks to be particularly thin.

The wire around the bottom was probably soft soldered.

Roger
 
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mitch

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without any obvious visible joints, i'm guessing a thin copper sleeve/vessel (ok, ok, it would've bore a resemblance to a prophylactic) was formed by a drawing & cupping process, slipped over the wood, then as Roger said, shaped over with burnishers and punches. the cutout was probably done with a graver. but i think the fine lip at the bottom edge was probably rolled from the same piece- integral, not applied with a separate piece of metal.

also a guess, of course, the silver was applied by some sort of chemical wash, but it's been many years since i've read about those techniques.

:thinking:
 

monk

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another way: the metal area area could have been plated over using a "brush plating" technique. brush plating goes on much, much thinner than standard electroplating.the manner in which it appears to thin out, to me, would rule against regular electroplating.
 

mitch

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monk, i think this piece is pretty old and supposedly made in China, which may preclude more modern plating techniques, but i'm not sure. silver & gold wash methods have been around a long time, tho.
 

peteb

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The base metal is probably a copper-silver alloy which is more common in Japan. The overlay or "plating" is Kum-boo using very thin fine silver. The copper/silver base is heat treated several time to bring the silver in the alloy to the surface and the fine silver is applied using heat and burnishing pressure. The worn areas look exactly like what happens when the silver is not truly bonded to the substrate
 

DanM

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Just a guess,but the silver was probably applied by "mercury silvering" which was used in Asia well into the 20th century.
 

mitch

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Just a guess,but the silver was probably applied by "mercury silvering" which was used in Asia well into the 20th century.

iirc, this was a common method for silvering mirrors?
 

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