15th INS Conference Trier, Germany

2017

Part II (of a two-part essay), published over two journals, which chronicles the history of the commercial manufacture in Britain of ‘German silver’ (more commonly known today as ‘nickel silver’). Part II chronicles the development of the German silver industry in Britain in the period 1829-1924, and analyses the alloy’s commercial application to industrial art and design from the late Regency era through the long Victorian and Edwardian period until the First World War. The essay chronicles the establishment by Percival Norton Johnson of Britain’s first nickel refinery on Bow Common and German silver manufactory at Hatton Gardens in London in 1829. It then analyses Johnson’s supplier-manufacturer relationship with the successful family firm of close-platers William Hutton and Son. Working together, Johnson in London, William Hutton in Birmingham and his son William Carr Hutton in Sheffield, the three men established a crucial nexus in the German silver trade that linked the three i...

2016

This article gives a historic overview of the German silver manufacturer Robbe & Berking and its evolvement in cutlery pattern.

Folia Historica Cracoviensia

2011

Une renaissance de l'archeologie des mines et des metaux a Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines (Alsace, France) s'est esquissee en 2006, qui aboutit a la structuration d'un projet collectif de recherches pluriannuel (2008-2011) " Mines et metallurgie de l'argent a l'Altenberg, Xe - XVIIe siecles ". Pionniere en Europe a une telle echelle, l'archeologie miniere fortement impulsee dans les annees 1980 avait abouti a l'affirmation d'une " ecole sainte-marienne ", caracterisee par un va et vient permanent entre l'archive et le terrain, appliquee au domaine des sites miniers de la Renaissance. Le nouveau programme 2006-2011 s'adresse a des problematiques qui embrassent les techniques, les economies et les societes pour la tres longue periode qui precede. Mais le Moyen-Age n'a pas livre de textes, et le mobilier datant se revele rare dans les fouilles : la methode etait donc totalement a revoir. A l'Altenberg, berceau de l'extract...

David Bourgarit, Jane Bassed, Francesca Bewer, Geneviève Bresc-Bautier, Philippe Malgouyres, Guilhem Scherf (eds.): French Bronze Sculpture: Materials and Techniques 16th - 18th Century (London: Archetype Publications, 2014).

The decorative sculptor Johann Melchior Kambly (1718–1784) produced, by the middle of the 18th century in his factory at Potsdam, “Bronze doré:works” for Frederick II, the Prussian king (1740–1786). Whereas their exceptional quality led Pierre Verlet to refer to them as “the most successful imitation of the Parisian bronzes dorés”,1 stylistically they are exponents of the Frederician Rococo, a particular style of interior decoration that was developed during Frederick’s regency. This being said, one wonders to what extent these bronzes can be called imitations. Le sculpteur-décorateur Johann Melchior Kambly (1718–1784) produisit au milieu du 18e siècle dans sa manufacture à Postdam des ouvrages en bronze doré pour le roi prussien Frédéric II (1740–1786). Alors que leur exceptionnelle qualité conduit Pierre Verlet à les invoquer comme « la meilleure réussite de l’imitation du bronze parisien », stylistiquement ils sont emblématiques du rococo frédéricien, un style particulier de décoration intérieure qui s’est développé pendant le règne de Frédéric le Grand. On peut donc se demander jusqu’à quel point ces bronzes peuvent être qualifiés d’imitations. Cet article porte sur le transfert de savoir que le confident royal Michael Gabriel Fredersdorff (1708–1758) a initié quand il a recruté à Paris en 1751 des artisans qualifiés. Le savoir-faire français a été intégré aux méthodes de travail de l’atelier de Kambly, contribuant à développer la carrière de Johann Melchior qui, en 1754, créa la décoration de toute une salle à manger avec des « bronzes dorés » et participa entre autres à la création des fameux meubles en écaille de tortue signés Kambly. Enfin, Johann Melchior Kambly devint un entrepreneur prospère fournissant la cour de Frédéric II en bronzes prussiens, bronzes que l’on peut percevoir comme étant dans la lignée des bronzes français du 18e siècle.

Bulletin of the Canadian Institute of Mining, 1996

Although the evolution of metallurgy at the end of Middle Ages is well known to scholars, some gaps remain to be filled precisely in domains related to precious metals. The extraction and transformation processes used for gold and silver ores in XVIth century Europe are known from a series of treatises but also with the help of the numerous articles written on this topic since the XIXth century. This short report present some inventories after death of precious metal refiners which provide more detail about the working environment of these craftsmen.

Metalla, 2016

In northern Siegerland, located in the ore-rich Mittel-gebirge region of Germany, a mining landscape based on copper, lead and silver metallurgy developed in the High Middle Ages. Beginning at least in the 10 th century AD, silver-rich fahlore was mined and smelted. The 13 th century is interpreted by archaeologists as the height of mining in the region with multiple mines, smelting sites as well as an impressive mining settlement at Alten-berg near Müsen (Hilchenbach). At the current state of research, the decline in this high medieval mining area began at the end of the 13 th century. Since 2013, with cooperation partners from Altenberg & Stahlberg e.V. Müsen, the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum and the LWL Archaeologie für Westfalen, new interdisciplin-ary research has focused on the prospection and excavation of mines, mine tailings, charcoal pits and smelting sites as well as the re-investigation and re-evaluation of the mining settlement of Altenberg near Müsen. This research , which is still in the initial phase, has already begun to provide new information on aspects of the development and organization of medieval non-ferrous metal production in this region.

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 14:185, 2022

Ash cupels were widely used in early modern Europe for small-scale refining of noble metals in artisanal workshops, mints and assay offices. The manufacture and use of cupels display considerable variability from context to context, which poses both challenges and opportunities for modern investigation. Here, we present the analytical study of an unusually large cupel recovered from castle of Middelburg-in-Flanders (Belgium), probably dated to the sixteenth or early seventeenth century, which we discuss in connection to historical sources and other archaeological finds. We demonstrate that the cupel was made of bone ash mixed with a small fraction of another calcareous material, and most likely used for the refining of silver heavily debased with copper. We illustrate simple methods to investigate the manufacture of cupels and the nature and amount of metals being refined, as well as approaches to assess and discuss cupellation performance in archaeological contexts.

Metalla, 2016

In northern Siegerland, located in the ore-rich Mittelgebirge region of Germany, a mining landscape based on copper, lead and silver metallurgy developed in the High Middle Ages. Beginning at least in the 10 th century AD, silver-rich fahlore was mined and smelted. The 13 th century is interpreted by archaeologists as the height of mining in the region with multiple mines, smelting sites as well as an impressive mining settlement at Alten-berg near Müsen (Hilchenbach). At the current state of research, the decline in this high medieval mining area began at the end of the 13 th century. Since 2013, with cooperation partners from Altenberg & Stahlberg e.V. Müsen, the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum and the LWL Archaeologie für Westfalen, new interdisciplin-ary research has focused on the prospection and excavation of mines, mine tailings, charcoal pits and smelting sites as well as the re-investigation and re-evaluation of the mining settlement of Altenberg near Müsen. This research , which is still in the initial phase, has already begun to provide new information on aspects of the development and organization of medieval non-ferrous metal production in this region.