(no subject)

[aleathiel]

I know this is something of a random post, and I guess I don't really expect to get a good answer, but if anyone knows anything I'd be really grateful!

I'm writing some original fiction in which one of the main characters is a silversmith. Sort of c16 or c17th setting, so not using modern mechanical methods.

Does anyone have any idea where I can find information about handcrafting silver? Sort of in the Paul Revere kind of way, if that makes it any clearer. With crucibles and a furnace and so on.

Comments

[logophilos.livejournal.com]

The Society for Creative Anachronism often is a place to start for that kind of thing. But I'm amazed you can't find that on the net.

Have you tried little_details?

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

I haven't been able to find it so far, everything I've found has been about modern silverworking. Thanks for the pointers, I'll check them out!

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

Silversmith -- this is a very basic overview from the Colonial Williamsburg site. They talk about the problem silversmiths in the colonies had actually getting ahold of silver, so if your story is set there, that might help.

Silversmith of Williamsburg -- this links to where you can buy a video on the subject, depending on how intense you want to get researching this book. :)

The Michigan Silversmith's Guild has a bunch of links here. Most have to do with the modern craft or with art and such, but you might find something -- maybe in the educational sections?

Missouri's Silver Age is a book on silversmiths in Missouri in the 19th century, which is a bit late but it might have some useful info. The write-up here says it talks about "the various methods used in making silver and the range of styles that were popular, providing insight into the methods of training apprentices, and explaining the effects of mechanization on the trade." It's kind of expensive-ish, although it has lots of photos. Maybe you could get an interlibrary loan or something?

The Library page of the Society of American Silversmiths -- a pretty long list of books. Several mention Britain or England, in case that's where your story's set, and I noticed a few which specifically pertain to your period, and that's just from skimming the titles for a few clicks.

Found this in a PDF file:

Index to Maine History journal
Vol. 9 – 12 Maine Historical Society Newsletter
13-33 Maine Historical Society Quarterly
34 – present Maine history
Vol. 9 through 41
1969 - 2002

"Crafts in Transition: A Case Study of Two Portland Silversmiths in
the Early Nineteenth Century," 24:298–337

The article sounds interesting if you could find a copy, although again it's a bit late in period for you.

The Diary of William Faris: The Daily Life Of An Annapolis Silversmith -- could give you a lot of useful info, although there's no indication of just when William Faris lived. :P Again, sort of expensive-ish, maybe a good library book.

Women Silversmiths, 1685-1845: Works from the Collection of the National Museum of Women in the Arts is an online article which I can't access because I don't have authorization :P but it says it might be possible to log in through a library web site. Might be worth a shot.

I hope some of this helps. :)

Angie

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

You are a complete angel. How did you manage to find so much more than me!? Right, I shall get reading.

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

Google -- I think I used "silversmith history historical" and at that I only skimmed stuff from the first few pages to post up there. There was more, though, if you want to repeat the search and poke through the rest of it. A lot is clearly unsuitable but there was a lot that looked interesting and I figured this was enough to jump-start you.

Angie, hearting on Google :D

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

Also, I love the idea of a video, but I think that might be going too far, hehe. I found some books on amazon and barnesandnoble but wanted to get as much as I could off the internet first, both for time saving and money saving.

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

Also, this looks promising.

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

Definitely. [nodnod] And cheap too -- can't beat that. :)

Angie

[matan4il.livejournal.com]

Hey, I thought I probably shouldn't flood Razzle's LJ with comments, so I came over here. I hope that's okay. :)

Hehe! I don't really have the accent. I never did, but any trace of it was destroyed by my education at Cambridge. I sound scarily like a posh English person if I'm not careful ;) I try to be careful!
*chuckles* I bet that's adorable! Maybe it's a bit sick, but I adore hearing all the accents coming from the British isles.

Also, I think it's fascinating, the question of what determines which accent one acquires. I was born in Romania, but started speaking after we've lived a while in Israel. My first word was in Hebrew, but I started speaking both it and Romanian. When I started speaking English (around age 8), I think I realized pretty quickly that an Israeli accent won't due (I remember telling my mother that Hebrew is like a path paved on a plain, while English is like going up - and down - hills, which means that when you're a Hebrew speaker trying to speak English, you make it sound broken) and it was from listening to telly. So I generally have something rather similar to an American accent. But now it's so strong that when I speak Hebrew, people ask me if I was born in the States. 8|

Sorry for the length. :">

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

It is an interesting question. My accent also has a tendency to fluctuate depending on where I am and who I'm talking to.

And I've never worried about over-spamming Razzle. But here is fine too.

[matan4il.livejournal.com]

Someone should do a study some day, no? I wonder what are the odds someone already has... If they have I could find something at uni, hopefully.

[january-snow.livejournal.com]

As you're in the London vicinity, have you visited the Victoria & Albert museum yet? They have a huge gallery of historical silver of the period you're looking at. Their website might have some useful links as well
http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/metalwork/silver/index.html

Geeky, moi? Only just a little bit. But silver *is* pretty, no? Good luck writing and maybe we'll even see the result some day?

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

I have been to the V&A, although not for a while. Thanks for the suggestion.

The thing I'm writing is all over the place, but yeah, I'll probably post it, or bits of it, at some time.