Silver, seolfor, silibar: the name rings ethereal, however you say it. It has captured mans avarice since early times, depicted in so many folklores as a crescent moon.
This is the Ariel of metals. Moonlight in solid form.
Roman coins were silver: they developed technology to mine 200 tonnes a year, and are thought to have had 10,000 tonnes circulating in the middle of the second century AD – dwarfing the amount available to mediaeval Europe.
The Crusades and warriors brought back special things: relics, bits of saints and such: each must be housed in intricately worked silver. The sophistication of those early craftsmen beggars belief: for according to Montague Howard in his book Old London Silver, Its Makers and its Marks, they must be jack of many trades – modeller, sculptor, smelter, enameler, jewel-mounter and inlayer.
They melted down huge quantities of church silver in the late 12th century – some 23 tonnes – to pay the ransom of Richard the Lionheart.
Powerful, these craftsmen were: during the 1400s six mayors of London were silversmiths.
But the power of silver is not always linked with the purest and most silver of motives. On the contrary: folklore will keep linking it with Lucifer.
There is the tale of that renowned tenth century silversmith St Dunstan, who had a forge at Glastonbury. One day a beautiful girl turned up to flirt. But despite all her contrivances the saint did not once look up from his silverworking. Finally as she danced more and more wildly about the room he caught sight of hooves beneath her skirts, and recognised her for the Devil in disguise. He despatched her by applying a pair of red-hot tongs to her nose.
Or how about Grimm’s girl with the silver hands: a poor miller made a deal with the devil: riches for what ever lay behind the mill. Alas, that turned out to be his daughter.
But the daughter was just too good for Lucifer. He couldn’t get his hands on her and so in a nasty turn of events he chopped off her hands in a fit of pique.
It was the girl’s good fortune to be espied by the King, who fell deeply in love with this spotless maiden and fashioned silver hands for her to use. But when the King went to war the devil spent his time tampering with the letters of the lovelorn. He changed news of an heir to news of a changeling; and when the King wrote back saying the babe should be cared for regardless, the devil made a few marks and managed to create orders to have the young queen and her son put to death.
Cad.
The queen and her little one fled into the forest and it took the King seven years to find them: by which time God had rewarded the queen’s time in the wilderness by giving her back her back her real hands.
Silver. When you find a beautifully fashioned piece of silversmithing, cast your eyes about carefully; for His Excellency the Prince of Darkness may be dissembling to meddle, close at hand.
All this is distilled in a strange set of pieces which sits in the middle of the vast collection of silver at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
The collection’s curators freely admit that this particular set of sauceboats is among the most puzzling of all the pieces of silver in the museums vast and impressive array.
The two sauceboats date from 1740-1750. The name of the maker is indistinct, and while there are clear influences, no-one can say for sure who made them.
Ordinarily any ornament would be made separately to the casting of the container: but these, made with the crest of English noble family the Champneys, are each made out of two gorgeous halves, with an integral four-legged figure crouched greedily over their contents.
And what is the identity of the creature dominating this exquisite silver?
Museum curators dub it a dragon.
But look closely: it has a nose like a crocodile, or a broad-snouted fighting dog, and pointy ears. Its limbs are brawny and thick-set and it has the great wide wings of a bat.It regards its quarry with a penetrating stare. And it ever so slightly gives the observer the impression it is coming for them, the moment it has secured its prey from within the depths of the silverware.
Sound familiar? We have met this creature already this week.
Our devilish friend is harassing the dinner service now, it seems. This is no dragon, but the devil in the pale moonlight of silver.
We are left, today, with more questions than answers. Why would the Champneys want silverware with such overt symbolism? Under what strange circumstances were they fashioned, and under what philosophy?
I sense we are only just tarnishing the surface of this particular piece of silverware.
Kate Shrewsday 
aha! Silver, that so easily worked metal, yet it keeps the hard lines longer than gold.
it tarnishes, so that t needs attention (devil worship?)
maybe it goes black in the presence of goodness (or of evil?) I do hope its the former because one look at my skin and silver blackens.
The symbolism is almost overwhelming, isn’t it, Sidey?
The beginning of a thousand stories.
Fascinating works – the silver and the intrigue. I wonder what the story is…
My sort of post, I love silver and enjoyed your journey – by jove Kate, you are in a Devilish mood this week!
I’d much prefer looking at Bumpy-silver or soft plush! Gargoyles and dragons and devils, oh my! I really would like to know more about the silver service. There must be something that I’m missing…because it doesn’t move me! Debra
I’m not a great lover of precious metals but do like those beautiful chased and carved peices – but always the puzzle who were those first – the very first who worked out how to do it?!!! great post
I love silver but I’m going off it after reading this…
It’s an incredible sculpture. What an interesting post – so much information there and much to think about! xx
Scarier by the day, what evil doth lurk beyond the week and into our leisure time?!
The devil truly is in the details . . . and in many more places than I might ever have thought to look. Our education continues. Thanks. 🙂
My silver $ plan. In US there are still amounts of 50 cents pieces floating around with silver. !965 to 1969 are 40% !964 and prior 90%. You have to buy $1,000 minimum from bank in box. That’s 2,000 coins. One can average $50 to $200 a box finding the coins and selling at bullion price.
If I had more time, (and won a big lottery prize) I love to learn two more trades. Glass blowing and silversmithing.
Keep up the good stories.
yaakov….
Dear Kate, . . . there’s a song that was popular when I was young–“By the light of the silvery moon, I want to spoon, to my honey I’ll croon love’s tune. Honeymoon, keep on shining in June. Your silver beams will bring love’s dreams, we’ll be cuddling soon, by the silvery moon.” I think I’ll never sing that song again in the same way now that you’ve done this posting!
Peace.
Maybe they knew way back when that rich sauces do devilish things to ones figure, and cast it as a reminder. 🙂
I’m with Tilly, I love silver too but will never feel the same about it again. White gold it is then or maybe iron 🙂
Oh, Kate! I love these kinds of things. What a wonderful, spine tingling mystery…
Or Andra’s got it in one.
Rum lot, the Champneys. Beautiful piece, though.
Silver is fascinating stuff. One slice of reported history which hasn’t done it any great good was the thirty pieces.
I often use silver in my work…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_uses_of_silver
no devils involved!
Quite the opposite, it seems: I had no idea silver had disinfectant qualities! Fantastic! Thanks as always, Pseu…
I love silver. I’m the odd bloke who loves to polish silver. I think I’m starting to worry about me.
Bravo, Kate! I loved this. There should be a love button next to the like button.
I had not, however, heard this particular Grimm’s tale and now must find it and read it. You are the best.
Thank you Penny! Polishing silver is utterly satisfying: I love to sit with a silvercloth and give my flute the once-over.
I had never heard this Grimm’s tale before I started researching. It’s one of the reasons I write: each post is a journey of discovery for me, long before the writing gets published!
It seems the devil’s winning out in your imagination, Kate – makes for very interesting reading. Perhaps I should dispatch bat bar of silver hiding in the sideboard and things might improve 😉
Who knows what might happen, BB 🙂
Williamsburg had a wonderful silversmith . . . and pewter smith. I preferred the pewter since it didn’t need to be polished. 😉
I haven’t much experience of pewter, Nancy. Something to explore: they never talk about selling off the family pewter, do they?
Glossy pewter looks like silver . . . without the tarnish:
http://www.salisburypewter.com/
Fascinating! 🙂
Oh yes!! Thanks you are so right. They are the same chap!!