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Silver in the Ancient World
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The deliberate extraction of silver from lead was apparently mastered by the end of the 3rd millennium bc. Found in the royal graves at Ur were silver objects containing varying proportions of lead, fashioned with the same techniques used for gold and copper. In the Sumerian and succeeding civilizations in the Middle East, silver was restricted to the same uses and classes as gold. In the 2nd millennium, however, it was also allotted by temple priests to certain merchants for buying larger quantities of copper abroad, and small pieces of silver in standard weights came to have a set value. Coinage was a final step in this process. Silver remained a restricted material until the late Roman Republic (to 27 bc) when the huge quantities of silver available to Rome made it a vehicle for trade, wealth, and the ostentation of wealth. Many classes in the Roman Empire, including wealthy freed slaves, might own cups, spoons, wine vessels, even tables and bathtubs in solid silver, often elaborately ornamented with repoussé and cast decoration.
During the early Middle Ages in Europe, silver was in short supply, although many of the early kingdoms minted a silver currency; chalices, gospel covers, and other liturgical equipment were customarily provided for church use. Silver mines in Austria and Germany provided most of the new silver of the Middle Ages, augmented after about 1550 by silver coming from Spanish mines in South America. Silver became available for large issues of currency and ultimately for private ownership in the form of reserved coins or a great variety of domestic utensils. Silver spoons or silver-edged wooden drinking bowls were modest items an individual might own, but wealthier persons would hold and express much of their reserve capital in salts, serving dishes, plates, beakers, and elaborate covered cups. By the 17th century in Europe, the notion of table silver had taken a firm hold, and for a brief period toward the end of the century, silver lighting fixtures, orange-tree tubs, and silver-mounted furniture were so popular that a scarcity of silver resulted. Silver thereafter came to be restricted generally to eating and drinking utensils; in the 19th century, silver serving pieces such as tureens, tea and coffee sets, candlesticks, and centerpieces became popular. In the modern era, even these tend to be of silver substitutes such as stainless steel or of silver-plated base metals, since nearly all mined silver is consumed in industrial processes. Silver was also used by European artists for religious and secular statues, figures, and ornaments for many centuries. Today, silver is once again being used for individual works by a growing number of silversmiths.
In the Far East, during the Tang dynasty in China and again after unbroken contact with the West was established in the 16th century, trade goods were sold for European bullion or coinage, and good use was made of this windfall of precious metal. The silver cups, bowls, and dishes of the Tang dynasty in particular were worked with engraved and gold-leaf designs of outstanding beauty.
The production of bronze by mixing copper and tin was an established practice by about 1500 bc throughout the Eurasian landmass. The small amounts of primitive bronze found in the early Sumerian graves probably resulted from the smelting of relatively rare naturally mixed ores. Tin and copper ores, however, were plentiful in Europe; most authorities agree that, although copper smelting was widely practiced (presumably through contacts with the Middle East), by the end of the 3rd millennium bc tin ores and copper ores were being smelted together to produce what was recognized as a superior form of copper—more fluid when hot and harder when cold. Bronze was easier to cast than copper and produced better tools and weapons. A refinement of the mixing method soon developed, in which tin and copper were smelted separately and were then melted together in controlled proportions. Trade contacts brought European tin eastward.
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Bronze in the Ancient World
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In both Europe and the Middle East, bronze was mainly used for weapons and cutting tools—swords, spears, arrowheads, shields, adzes, and axes—although bowls and cauldrons were also made from bronze. During the 1st millennium, bronze was especially prized in Greece and later in Rome for sumptuous and elegant furnishings, such as tripods, bed and table frames, small oil lamps, and tall lampstands, often elaborately decorated with raised animal or leaf decoration.
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