A particularly impressive and quite rare large Old Sheffield Plate* tray in good original condition. Measuring 28ins (71cms) across the handles, it features applied gadroon decoration around the rim, interspersed with shells and matching cast carrying handles. To the centre is a fine Coat-of-Arms engraved into a solid silver inset, which includes the motto in Latin: “Manus Justa Hardus'' (''A Just and Hard hand” is an approximate translation). English circa 1780-1800.* Old Sheffield Plate is not silver-plating in the modern sense. Silver was very expensive in the 18th century and the process, invented by James Boulsover in 1743, was created to provide a cheaper alternative to hallmarked silver, but which looked exactly like the real thing. It involved creating a ‘brick’ of copper between two quite thick layers of silver. This was then heated and rolled out, to form thin sheets which had the characteristic of retaining the same proportions of silver and copper as the original b...