SILVERWARE—most take it for granted, some collect it and still others pack it away in cupboards and drawers, if only to minimise the cleaning. Since that ruckus with Charles I about exactly how divine he was, we Britons haven’t needed to melt down domestic silver to pay soldiers and are, therefore, blessed with an abundance. It would have been much more if our forebears hadn’t treated family silver as an inflation fighter—when prices got too high, they melted it down and, when prices were low and silver abundant, they stocked up on newly minted and fashioned pieces.
A quick rummage through that drawer may produce some surprises. If you