In comparison with the other assay offices both Sheffield and Birmingham own titles which seem to convey that the assay offices came into being as a protective measure; they were to be watch-dogs over the silver platers in their district. In 1773 there were, among others, the "Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London," the "Incorporation of Goldsmiths" of Edinburgh, and the "Fraternity or Company of Goldsmiths" of Dublin. But the assay offices established at Sheffield and Birmingham were to be "The Guardians of the Standard of Wrought Plate," which is suggestive in the circumstances. Competitive rivalry in art has often ended in the undoing of a particular school where imitation was pushed to fulsome lengths. When the wood engraver simulated the actual cracks in the canvases of the subjects he was copying on his block he showed a decadence which shortly led to his extinction. But the Sheffield platers never added blemishes of their own to the silver they copied. They produced faithful copies. They selected fine examples and they stood supreme in what they set out to do, until, by a later process, they were superseded. II EARLY DAYS THE INVENTION OF SILVER PLATING BY FUSION THOMAS BOULSOVER OF SHEFFIELD (1704-1788) A WORLD OF KNICK-KNACKS THE SHEFFIELD SILVER-PLATING PROCESS EARLY SHEFFIELD PLATED PRODUCTIONS JOSEPH HANCOCK THE RISE OF THE BIRMINGHAM AND OTHER SILVER PLATERS THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE GREAT PERIOD OF SHEFFIELD PLATING CONTEMPORARY SILVERSMITHS AND THEIR ART CHAPTER II EARLY DAYS =The invention of silver plating by fusion--Thomas Boulsover of Sheffield (1704-1788)--A world of knick-knacks--The Sheffield silver-plating process--Early Sheffield plated productions--Joseph Hancock--The rise of the Birmingham and other silver platers--The commencement of the great period of Sheffield plating--Contemporary silversmiths and their art.=