PLATE AND PLATED WARE. The terms gold plate and silver plate are properly applied to articles or utensils of approximately solid metal, for use in the household or in re ligious ceremonials or purely for decorative purposes, as a prize cup. Articles of this char acter have from the remotest times and among all civilized nations been highly prized, and from their durability, intrinsic value and the beautiful forms into which they are often wrought have been esteemed the most precious heirlooms, and been held among the choicest family treasures through successive generations. The richest treasures of the temple of Solomon were of gold and silver plate, and such con stituted the untold wealth taken by the Spanish conquerors of Peru from the ancient Incas. Though modern art has scarcely carried the manufacture of plate to higher perfection than that attained by skilful workmen of past cen turies, it has succeeded in producing substitutes for it in what is called plated manufacture equally useful and almost as beautiful as the genuine plate, at prices that place within reach of those of moderate means what constitutes the luxuries of the rich. In the United States
the industry of making silverware was begun by John Dixwell, Andrew Tyler and Edward Winslow of New England and later Paul Revere, George Rtdcout and lkichard Van Dyke made silverware in New York before the Revo lution. Later Rogers of Connecticut was a prominent manufacturer. He developed elec troplating methods, and also achieved an en viable reputation for using the amount of silver that he guaranteed to put on. Thus the name of Rogers became a hall-mark of quality, and in the course of time there were four concerns making Rogers plated ware. Meriden, Conn., and Providence, R. I., are centres of the plating industry. See ELEcTRO-METALLURGY.