#german silver

[vintagefashionplates]

Antique "German silver" (alpaca) mesh purse

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Antique German silver mesh purse/pocketbook/handbag 5"wide at the best online

[hui-archive]

Napkin box "Josefina", handmade in Argentina with german silver

Instagram: flores.arteenalpaca

[fromthedust]

MIA’S GHOST

found object (discarded student painting on canvas) with applied bronze metal leaf with verdigris patina, spray paint, silver and green alumnium powders, clear lacquer with assemblaged gaboon ebony, crab shell, german silver rod

9″ x 8″ x 2″

Below is what the painting looked like when I found it discarded. When I applied the bronze leaf 90% of the canvas was covered leaving only irregular gaps of reddish orange showing through. I didn’t want the head to show through so much as I wanted little patches of the reds. After the leaf had been applied I brushed some patina chemical on the whole canvas and let it sit overnight to work. This particular brand of patina chemical I had never used on thin leafing before, and when I looked at it the next day I discovered that it was stronger than other brands I’d used for leaf before. This chemical had completely subsumed the leafing leaving only a transparent verdigris green patina allowing the entire surface of the painted canvas to show through. Every time I work with patina I find surprises. I decided to work with it, but to get a result that made sense I ended up adding a good bit more semi-opaque pigments (spray paint and aluminum powders) and more leafing to the surface. A bit more patina chemical was added in places, but very sparingly. The assemblage bits were always intended to be added, but not these particular elements — they were among perhaps twenty objects/materials considered. The section of crabshell was in a box where I had put it over twenty years ago, knowing it would come in handy one day.  <grin>   

The german silver rod (a non-tarnishing alloy of copper, zinc, and nickel) was part of an antique hatpin shank which was never made into a hatpin. I have several dozen never-assembled hatpin parts — a flea market purchase back in the 1980s. Over the years a few times (perhaps three?) they have been added design elements to sculptures.     

[feral-bog-wytch]

I haven't been posting much from the shop lately, I've just been busy as all hell, so here are some spears to make up for the lack of posts.⚔

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Alloys: Nickel silver

Also known as German silver, Argentan, alpacca, nickel brass, and other names, nickel silver is actually a copper-based alloy that was often used as a cheaper replacement for real silver. A typical composition is about 60% copper, 20% nickel, and 20% zinc, but compositions can vary as much as 10-25% nickel and 17-40% zinc, with the remainder as copper. Different ratios lead to different properties. Some lead (which increases machinability) is sometimes also found in the alloy. Despite the high copper content, the alloy has a similar color to pure silver, hence the name.

First used in China - known in the West as baitong (Mandarin) or paktong (Cantonese) - nickel silver was commonly exported to Europe beginning around 1600. In the early 1800s a competition was held in Germany in an attempt to produce a similar alloy, which is where the alternative name of German silver comes from. The German process grew in popularity throughout Europe when exports from China gradually stopped.

As a replacement for silver, nickel silver is often silver plated and forms the base metal for objects such as silverware, zippers, musical instruments, coinage (such as the Portuguese escudo before the euro), and certain electronic applications. Indeed, nickel silver alloys are considered to be electronic grade alloys, with high thermal and electrical conductivity, a resistance to corrosion, and can be easily formed in a variety of ways.

Sources/Further Reading: ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) ( 4 ) ( 5 )

Image sources: ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) ( 4 )

[rosscountyhistoricalsociety]

This purse is totally metal - literally! It’s a little chainmail handbag. These bags were really popular in the late 19th century as machine-made metal links made them cheaper and accessible to the middle class. This one has an expanding metal top that’s somewhat unusual.

[splitcane]

Leonard 6ft 10in  4-5wt Sallow reel seat. Blued Nickel Silver metalwork.

[camwyn]

Ayup. This makes two patterns intended for fancypants stone focals that produced something wholly appealing using ACTUAL LITERAL BOSTON HARBOR TRASH instead. (Nickel silver wire rather than sterling, but it's a practice piece, so.)