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Cowan's Corner
Put Your Money in Metal –
18th Century English Silver
by Hester Bateman
By Wes Cowan
Among collectors of
English silver, works by
women silversmiths are quite
prestigious for their scarcity.
One name in particular,
Hester Bateman, stands
out. She is best known and
probably the most highlyregarded
silversmithess of
18th-Century England, though
her works are very affordable
for a beginning collector.
In 18th-Century England,
silversmithing was perhaps
the only trade considered
“gentlemanly,” for one could
create delicate objects of
masterful skill and high style
for an elite clientele. Believed to be a trade practiced by only
by men, the art of working
silver is labor intensive
and requires strength and
endurance and working with
intense heat.
Little is ever discussed
about the women silversmiths
of 18th-Century England,
although there were several,
including Hester Bateman.
Most came to the trade
serendipitously. Wives
who had helped with their
husband’s businesses or
daughters who had come
into the trade by apprenticing
for fathers may have found
themselves without the head of household and with the
need to earn a living wage,
so they came into the trade
through the “back door.”
Married to John Bateman
when she was about 15
years of age, Hester had
little formal education.
John was by trade a chain
maker and silver worker,
essentially a craftsman who
performed small jobs for
master silversmiths who
were too busy to handle all
of their commissions. Hester
maintained a household
and raised children while
assisting her husband in
every aspect of his business,
including sales and handson metalworking. When he
died of consumption in 1760,
Hester filed the will the day
after his death. John left her
his business and his tools.
From that day forth, Hester,
with the assistance of her
children, built a dynastic firm
that lasted several generations
and became an upper middle
class provider of luxury items
to their English clientele.
In ten years’ time, Hester
Bateman transformed
“John Bateman, Jeweler,
Chainmaker and occasional
silverworker” to her own
concern, “Hester Bateman,
Silversmith.” Striving to build
a customer base, Hester kept a keen eye on stylistic shift.
She predominately worked
in the Adam style, the only
style named after an architect
rather than an English
Regent. Adam style was the
essence of neo-classicism
and Hester’s work honors
that spirit. Her hollowware is sparsely elegant with surface
decoration, pierce work (or
ajouré) and engraving.
An emerging middle
class, intent on acquiring
the accoutrements of upper
classes, created a large
demand for tea wares, or service pieces for the serving
of tea, the telling ceremony of
status. Hester and her family
made perhaps thousands of
teaspoons, tea caddy spoons
and table spoons, some more
desirable today than others,
in particular her bright-cut
decorated spoons.
Her hollowware pieces
are better examples for
her best work, both as
true interpretations of the
neo-classical style and as
magni f icent ly-executed
metalwork.
The irony here is that
while highly desirable, Hester
Bateman silver is oddly still
affordable. The beginning
collector can buy Bateman
spoons ranging from $75 to
$300, depending on the level
of decoration and specialty
of use. Hollowware Bateman
pieces range from $500 for a
simple waste bowl to several
thousands for kettles-onstands.
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Sources for this article:
*Hester Bateman, Queen
of English Silversmiths, by
David S. Shure, Doubleday,
New York, 1959.
*Women Silversmiths,
1685-1845: Works from the
Collection of the National
Museum of Women in the Arts
by Philippa Glanville and
Jennifer Faulds Goldsborough,
Thames and Hudson, 1990.
*Catalog: George III and
Other Old English Silver
Including Examples by Hester
Bateman ~ Pt.3 of the Estate
of Cushing Toppan [Parke-
Bernet, Feb. 4/5, 1959].
 About the author: Wes Cowan is founder and
owner of Cowan’s Auctions,
Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio. An
internationally-recognized
expert in historic Americana,
Wes stars in the PBS television
series History Detectives and
is a featured appraiser on
Antiques Roadshow. He can
be reached via email at info@cowans.com. Research by
Diane Wachs.
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Hester Bateman silver teapot on stand with typical Neoclassical
decoration, estimated to sell for $2,000-$3,000 in
Cowan’s Oct. 2 Fine and Decorative Art Auction.
Hester Bateman silver sugar tongs with ajuré and brightcut
decoration, estimated to sell for $400-600.
A Hester Bateman silver tea
caddy spoon with bright-cut
decoration, estimated to sell
for $300-$500
Hester Bateman silver berry
spoon, estimated to sell
for $250-$450.
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