This sterling silver Christening cup, which is gold plated inside, is a reproduction of an original by Silversmith  Antony Nelme.

In 1865 Nelme was recorded as a Goldsmith. He was one of the most successful native English Goldsmiths of the late 17^th century and produced a great variety of silverware ranging from elaborate and ceremonial pieces to domestic and ecclesiastical wares.

This silver Christening cup is handmade hall marked sterling silver and produced in our Brentwood workshop, a description of the manufacturing process is given below by Master Silversmith John Campbell.

The main body is constructed from sheet silver supplied by Cookson Precious Metal and is made using the 'spinning' method. This is an old process of making round hollow objects from sheet material and is suitable today for small to medium production runs. This process can also be relatively inexpensive to 'tool up'. Other industries also use this method of production and it is not uncommon to find kitchen utensils and lampshades made this way. First a former or 'chuck' is made on the lathe on which a disc of silver is clamped and while rotating is 'spun' forced/wrapped tightly onto the former. Once the cup body is firmly on the chuck the edge is trimmed back to the exact height.

The handle is made for us using an outside supplier and employing the photo etching method. This is a process of cutting out shapes from sheet material and is suitable for the production of this cup handle. Other methods also exist for achieving similar results, for example, mechanical blanking, or water blasting. Laser cutting is not suitable for silver of this thickness as it is too reflective. The flat handle blanks are then bent around a jig to form it into a handle.

Assembly. The cup body is now pre polished on the outside only to accept the handle which is attached at the top and bottom using silver solder. A gas and oxygen torch is used for this process. The gas is passed through a fluxing unit to provide a coating of the cup to ensure no oxygen is present at the metal surface during heating. This will prevent fire staining forming. Next the assembly is 'pickled' in dilute sulphuric acid to remove the flux particles and gas flux residues.

At this stage the article is taken to the London Assay Office to be scraped and tested. Once a positive result has been received from the laboratory confirming that the article has been made with metal at least 92.5%, pure silver the hallmarks are punched into the surface. This independent hallmarking process began in the 1400's and is one of the world's oldest and most secure forms of consumer protection.

Upon arrival back at our workshop, the hallmarks are inspected and 'set', that is to remove the dents the mark punching process puts in. Following this the JA Campbell name punch is applied to the base and the polishing process begins. First using coarse compound on the inside and outside, moving up to medium and finally a fine compound until the high polish associated with silver is achieved. 4 grades are used and around 20 different operations employed.

The cups are then ultrasonically cleaned to remove compound residues from all the crevices and the inside is gold plated. They are then placed into fitted presentation cases for dispatch.

Whether it is to celebrate a birth, a Christening or baptism this delightful little Christening cup can be engraved with names, a date and a message of your choice to personalize the gift and mark the occasion. A gift to be treasured down through the years and passed from generation to generation.

All J A Campbell products are made up to a standard and not down to a price.