George III Silver Chafing Dish with Armorial Engravings, London 1767-1776

• Armorial / Armourial - Bearing a coat of arms. Coats of arms came into general use by feudal lords and knights in in the 12th century, and by the 13th century, arms had spread beyond their initial battlefield use to become a flag or emblem for families in the higher social classes of Europe. They were inherited from one generation to the next. When a family crest is used on individual items of silver or furniture it is an indicator of the aristocratic standing of the family represented.
  
  Armorials were also used to decorate mass produced ceramic souvenir ware by such companies as Goss, Carlton & Shelley, and in these cases the coats of arms displayed were of boroughs and cities.
• George Iii - George III (1738 - 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 to 1820.
• Chafing Dish - A chafing dish is a type of portable heated tray or stand that is used to keep food warm during a meal or event. It is typically made of metal or stainless steel and has a shallow tray or pan for holding the food.
  
  The tray is usually placed on top of a fuel burner, which generates heat to keep the food warm. Some chafing dishes also have a cover or lid to help retain heat and prevent contamination. Chafing dishes are often used at buffets, banquets, and other events where food is served and may need to be kept warm for an extended period of time.
  
  

• Everted - An everted rim is an outwardly turning or flaring outwards rim, as seen the rims on jugs, vases, bowls and dishes.
• Engraving - The method of decorating or creating inscriptions on silver and other metal objects by marking the surface with a sharp instrument such as a diamond point or rotating cutting wheel.
• Finial - An architectural decoration, found on the upper parts of of an object. On furniture they are usually found on pediments, canopies and shelf supports. On smaller ceramic or silver items, such as spoons, they may decorate the top of the item itself, or the lid or cover where they provide a useful handle for removal.
  
  Finials have a variety of shapes and forms. They may be urn-shaped, baluster shaped round or spiral, but usually taper into an upper point. Many real life shapes may also be used as finials, such as pineapples, berries, pinecones, buds, lotus and acorns. Sometimes animals such as a lion are depicted, or fish and dolphins.
• Cartouche - An ornamental panel in the form of of a shield, oval or rectangular scroll with curling edges. It may be carved into the back of a chair or the top of a sideboard, or present on a piece of silver or jewellery, and contain the initials of the original owner, heraldic symbols, or some other inscription, such as the details of a presentation.
  
  In ceramics the term defines the central area of a vase or similar with a decorative border in one of the shapes above, into which a decorative scene or figures have been painted.
• Gadrooning - A series of lobes usually as a border. In furniture gadrooning is found as carved decoration around the edges of table tops in the Chippendale and Jacobean style furniture. Gadrooning is also found as decoration on the rims of silver and ceramics.
• 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.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• dishes - silver, entree / serving / chafing 154
• Heming, Thomas (London) - silver, maker or retailer 9