Pair of European Silverplate Pheasant Sculptures c. 1960s. Vintage paired statues depicting a male and female pheasant. Unmarked. 

Largest Size: 2 x 9 x 4 3/4 in. 

#2537 . 

Silver plating has been used since the 18th Century to provide cheaper versions of household items that would otherwise be made of solid silver, including cutlery, vessels of various kinds, and candlesticks. In the United Kingdom the assay offices, silver dealers, and collectors use the term “silver plate” for items made from solid silver, derived long before silver plating was developed from the Spanish word for silver “plata.” The earliest form of silver plating was Sheffield Plate, where thin sheets of silver are fused to a layer or core of base metal, but in the 19th Century new methods of production (including electroplating) were introduced. For modern applications in electronics, silver is sometimes used for plating copper, as its electrical resistance is lower. Care should be used for silver plated pieces exposed to high humidity environments, because the silver layer is porous and may contain cracks, allowing the underlying copper (or other metals) to undergo rapid galvanic corrosion, flaking off the plating and exposing the copper itself. Silver plated copper maintained in a moisture-free environment will not undergo this type of corrosion, theoretically lasting for many centuries.

Slight discoloration to silver.