The making of the finial for the silver sugar bowl by the Cape Silversmith Daniel Heinrich Schmidt Don Sheasby Silversmith/Restorer Cape Town
Transcript
The making of the finial for the silver sugar bowl by the Cape Silversmith Daniel Heinrich Schmidt
Don Sheasby Silversmith/Restorer
Cape Town
Melting silver prior to casting ingots
The cast ingots
Rolling an ingot
Illustrating how rolling lengthens the ingot
Drawing the shaft wire
Cutting the shaft thread
Cutting threads in the nuts-to-be
Hallmarking the nut
Marking out the nut
Punching the ‘925’
The nut partially cut
The leaves scribed out on the rolled strip
Punching the leaf ‘spine’
Engraving the ‘Florentinig’ on the leaves
The two different leaf forms
The punch for the melon
Trial punchings of the melon in copper
The nut complete – the curve an exact match to
the inner surfaceof the lid
The Hallmarked side
Shaft, nut for melon base and melon
Soldering the melon to the threaded block
The block trimmed
Hallmarking the block
Leaves – First trimming
Leaves – Second trimming
Inner leaves soldered to the threaded shaft and shaped to the melon
Shaping the outer leaves
Laying out the leaves prior to binding
Leaves bound prior to soldering to inner leaves
Top view
Outer leaves soldered – prior to trimming
Checking finial height dimensions and proportions
The patinated leaf assembly and gilded melon
Hallmarks on the melon
Hallmarks on the leaf assembly
Complete
Complete
Brass key for finial nut
Key in use - showing how the slot limits tightening to exactly the correct pressure
Before After
Don Sheasby Silversmith,, Restorer Consultant to the Military History Museum,, Cape TownPhone : 021 511 9353Cell : 082 299 8999Email : [email protected]
The making of the finial for the silver sugar bowl by the Cape Silversmith Daniel Heinrich Schmidt