Chemistry:Britannia metal

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Short description: Type of pewter alloy
Not to be confused with Britannia silver.

Teapot, Britannia metal

Britannia metal (also called britannium, Britannia ware,[1] or Vickers White Metal[2]) is a specific type of pewter alloy, favoured for its silvery appearance and smooth surface. The composition by weight is typically about 92–93% tin, 5–6% antimony, and 2% copper.[3][4] Some sources use the terms "Britannia metal" and "britannium" to mean different things.[5]

Britannia metal is usually spun rather than cast,[1] and melts at 255 °C (491 °F).[6]

History

Britannia metal was first produced[7] in 1769 or 1770. James Vickers created it after purchasing the formula from a dying friend. It was originally known as "Vickers White Metal" when made under contract by the Sheffield manufacturers Ebenezer Hancock and Richard Jessop. In 1776, James Vickers took over the manufacturing himself, and remained as owner until his death in 1809, when the company passed to his son, John, and son-in-law, Elijah West. In 1836, the company was sold to John Vickers's nephew, Ebenezer Stacey (the son of Hannah Vickers and John Stacey).

After the development of electroplating with silver in 1846, Britannia metal was widely used as the base metal for silver-plated household goods and cutlery.[8] The abbreviation EPBM on such items denotes "electroplated Britannia metal". Britannia metal was generally used as a cheaper alternative to electroplated nickel silver (EPNS), which is more durable.

For many years, britannia metal was used to make the solid core of the Oscar statuettes, which are 8 1⁄2 lb (4 kg) and plated with 24-karat gold. For the first few years,[2][9][10] they were gold-plated bronze, then later (perhaps starting in the 1930s,[11][12][13] 1945,[14] or 1982/1983;[15][16][17] different sources disagree), they were made of britannia metal plated with copper then nickel silver then gold. However, between 1942–1945 during WWII, the statuettes were made of painted plaster due to metal shortages. Since then, starting with the 88th Academy Awards in 2016, they have returned to gold-plated bronze.[5][18][19][20]

In his essay "A Nice Cup of Tea", writer George Orwell asserts that "britanniaware" teapots "produce inferior tea" when compared to chinaware.[21]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Britannia Ware English". http://www.oldandsold.com/articles01/article464.shtml. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Plante, Chris (February 26, 2016). "The 2016 Oscars will abandon one of the ceremony's oldest traditions" (in en). https://www.theverge.com/2016/2/26/11120246/academy-awards-2016-oscars-statue-gold.  (Cites Pewertbank , Silvercollection.it, and Oscars.org .)
  3. ↑ "Britannia metal". http://www.pewtersociety.org/pewter/britannia-metal/. 
  4. ↑ Brunning, Andy (2017–2018). "THE COMPOSITION OF OSCAR STATUETTES / The Chemistry of an Oscar.indd / Chemical-Composition-of-Oscar-Statuettes-2018.pdf". https://www.compoundchem.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Chemical-Composition-of-Oscar-Statuettes-2018.pdf. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cirilli, Corynne (February 21, 2017). "A Look Back at the Intrigue and Scandals of the First Academy Awards" (in en-US). Hearst Digital Media. https://www.townandcountrymag.com/the-scene/a9635/oscars-first-academy-awards/. "Things were a bit more subdued back in 1929, the year the first Academy Award ceremony was held. [...] Juan Pineda, the Hollywood Roosevelt's director of entertainment sales and "resident historian." Academy President and actor Douglas Fairbanks Sr. hosted the ceremony, and only 15 "Oscars" were awarded. "The 12-inch trophies were made of 24-carat gold-plated britannium, which was eventually abandoned in favor of Britannia metal to give the statuettes a smoother finish," Pineda says." 
  6. ↑ Composition and Physical Properties of Alloys , Oliver Seely, August 18, 2007
  7. ↑ The New Encyclopædia Britannica, Micropædia (2002, 15th edition)
  8. ↑ Krupp, Alfred; Andreas Wildberger (1888). The metallic alloys: A practical guide for the manufacture of all kinds of alloys, amalgams, and solders, used by metal-workers ... with an appendix on the coloring of alloys and the recovery of waste metals. H.C. Baird & Co.. 
  9. ↑ "Oscar Statuette". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. February 23, 2016. https://www.oscars.org/oscars/statuette. 
  10. ↑ Pavlik, John (January 19, 2017). "A Brief History of the Oscar®". https://www.oscars.org/sites/oscars/files/89aa_oscar_history.pdf. 
  11. ↑ Fisher, Daniel (January 8, 2019). "Oscars February 25, 2019, and Gold / Oscars 2019 | The Oscar Statuette | What's Its Value?" (in en-US). https://www.physicalgold.com/insights/oscars-2019-gold/. 
  12. ↑ Glancey, Jonathan (February 19, 2016). "Who was Oscar? A history of the Academy Awards statuette" (in en-GB). https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20160219-who-was-oscar-a-history-of-the-academy-awards-statuette. 
  13. ↑ Desjardins, Jeff (February 25, 2016). "The Oscar: How It’s Made, and What It’s Worth". https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-oscar-how-its-made-and-what-its-worth/. 
  14. ↑ MonkEL (March 26, 2008). "Katharine Hepburn's Oscars: One of These Things is Not Like the Others". National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. https://z.ossprod.si.edu/blog/one-these-things-not-others%E2%80%A6. 
  15. ↑ Almond, Kyle (March 10, 2023). "Inside the making of an Oscar statuette". https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/03/entertainment/oscar-statuette-design-cnnphotos/index.html. 
  16. ↑ Bonior, Jeffrey (February 24, 2017). "Oscar Has a New Maker, But the Statuette is Still Made in America" (in en-US). https://www.americanmanufacturing.org/blog/oscar-has-a-new-maker-but-the-statuette-is-still-made-in-america/. 
  17. ↑ Hartwell, Brian (March 1, 2023). "Who is Oscar? The Trophy.". https://firstplaceinc.com/2023/03/01/who-is-oscar-the-trophy/. 
  18. ↑ Kojen, Natalie (February 16, 2016). "THE ACADEMY AND POLICH TALLIX FINE ART FOUNDRY REVIVE THE ART OF OSCAR STATUETTES" (in en). Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. https://www.oscars.org/news/academy-and-polich-tallix-fine-art-foundry-revive-art-oscarr-statuettes. 
  19. ↑ "What's An Oscar Really Made Of?" (in en). February 20, 2009. https://www.livescience.com/5314-oscar.html. 
  20. ↑ "Oscar Returns to Bronze at Polich Tallix". February 16, 2016. http://www.polichtallix.com/2016/02/16/oscar-returns-to-bronze-at-polich-tallix. 
  21. ↑ George Orwell (January 12, 1946). "A Nice Cup of Tea". Evening Standard. http://www.booksatoz.com/witsend/tea/orwell.htm. 



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