Britannia metal is a blend of tin, antimony, and copper used for household items. Elkington & Company developed electroplating, making silver-plated Britannia metalware successful. It’s stronger than tin, easier to work with, and commonly used for silver-plated utensils and teapots.
Britannia metal is a blend of tin, food and copper commonly used in household items. Although it has a smooth, shiny surface, a layer of silver is often applied to Britannia metal. Elkington & Company first developed the electroplating process in the 1800s, which made silver-plated Britannia metalware commercially successful in England. Britannia metal is known for its strength and aesthetic properties and is much stronger than tin alone. Silver plated utensils and teapots are often made with a Britannia metal base.
The metal was known as “Vickers White Metal” when it was first produced in 1769. However, its use did not become widespread until the mid-19th century. To meet the demand in England for silver-plated items, Elkington & Company experimented with cheaper and more effective ways to mount silver on a base of another metal. George Richards Elkington, who was a Birmingham born English manufacturer, patented the first successful electroplating procedure in the 19th century. Elkington & Company electroplats both large pieces and smaller jewelery and kitchenware items in the lucrative Victorian market.
In the electroplating process, an electric current is used to charge a coating, such as silver, so that it bonds with another material. The base metal must be electrically conductive to bond properly to the added layer. Both materials are immersed in a liquid solution which allows electricity to flow during binding. Electroplating is used nowadays to add a surface layer with desirable properties or to increase the size of undersized parts. Britannia metal has largely replaced nickel as the preferred base metal for mounting silver.
The composition of Britannia metal gives it its material properties. Generally composed of 93% tin, 5% antimony and 2% copper, it has a silvery-white color. Although made mostly of tin, it is stronger and harder than pure tin. It is also easier to work with and can be worked into sheets or with a machine tool such as a lathe. Unlike many brittle materials, metal can undergo significant deformation before breaking. Small variations in the composition of Britannia metal give rise to slightly different characteristics of the material.
Silver plated housewares are commonly made from Britannia metal. Eating utensils, drinking vessels, and other items made of pure silver would have been very expensive, so the approach of using a different base metal was pursued. Britannia silver, on the other hand, is a high quality silver that was used in coins.
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