Victorian Sterling Silver Quaich by Joseph Padgett, London 1891

• Sterling Silver - Sterling silver is a mixture of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% of another metal, usually copper. Fine silver is 99.9% pure silver, and is relatively soft and the addition of the very small amount of copper gives the metal enough strength and hardness to be worked into jewellery, decorative and household objects.
• Victorian Period - The Victorian period of furniture and decorative arts design covers the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. There was not one dominant style of furniture in the Victorian period. Designers used and modified many historical styles such as Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, English Rococo, Neoclassical and others, although use of some styles, such as English Rococo and Gothic tended to dominate the furniture manufacture of the period.
  
  The Victorian period was preceded by the Regency and William IV periods, and followed by the Edwardian period, named for Edward VII (1841 ? 1910) who was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India for the brief period from 1901 until his death in 1910.
• Quaich - A quaich is a drinking cup, originating in the Scottish Highlands. It is in the form of a wide, shallow bowl and has two or three handles projecting from the upper section and sometimes has a circular foot. Small quaiches were for individual use, while the larger, ornate variety were used for communal drinking at ceremonies. The word quaich is derived from the Gaelic word cuach, meaning cup. A porringer is a similar vessel, but usually has only a single handle.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• quaich - silver items 31