The introduction of new technical and innovative methods of English silverware production c.1680-1750 is the main focus of this dissertation. The corpus of work is divided into five chapters, the introduction portraying an overview of the silver trade during this period leading to Chapter 1 which reviews the English and French guild systems and their effectiveness in a period of economic, cultural and social change. Chapter 2 reflects these changes through the desires of the patrons and the fashionable designs required by an increasingly demanding purchasing public. With the increase in the production of silverware Chapter 3 investigates the legal framework of the trade; new laws; transgressions of both craftsman and public together with major Acts of Parliament that became the basis of all laws pertaining to the sale and purchase of precious metal wares in the United Kingdom. The innovations and techniques introduced into the manufacturing of silverware 1680-1750 are investigated in Chapter 4 together with their effect on the production of economically viable objects which was becoming a more prevalent aspect of eighteenth-century business practice. Case studies ofvarious silver objects that reflect the technical advances introduced during this period are examined in Chapter 5 and represent the diverse abilities ofthe chosen craftsmen. The argument is made that the technical and innovative manufacturing processes introduced into the London silver trade 1680-1750 were responsible for the production of economically viable silverware. Thus England became a predominant producer of domestic and civic plate in the eighteenth century. Estimated word length ofDissertation -78,262 (including Glossary and Bibliography)