Testing metals.

[SoffaGoat]

I have recently bought a lovely pewter dish from the turn of the century (1900). The dish is very highly polished and I wonder if there is any way to make sure 100% that it is actually pewter,  any home tests one can do without damaging the piece. It is so shiny that it reminds me of chrome.
Thank you for your help.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Pewter is usually dull, rather than shiney, like in the photo below. Check for hallmarks stamped into the underside. Those can tell us a lot! A photo would help too. Maybe you've got silver rather than pewter.

[SoffaGoat]

I will not be able to download a photo tonight but i can tell you more. The piece is Osiris pewter, the piece i have is shown in a book but itself is unmarked. This could be due to over polishing, erasing of the mark which was common place with german pewter wares during the first world war (nobody wanted to show friends and family that their pieces were from the hun as it were) or weither the mark itself has a layer of chrome or silver filling in the Osiris stamp. Hence a test on the pewter may be needed.
Early 20th century decorative arts pewter could be polished up to resemble silver as I believe it had a resonable silver content.

Thank you for your reply it is nice to know people take the time to help others.

[regularjoe2]

Pretty much every testing method (within financial reason) is destructive in a small way , since they require that a sample be taken of the material .

A simple destructive test is to remove a very small sliver ( from somewhere on the bottom rim areas , such as inside of the rim or from the base ) with a razor blade . Place the sample over a lighter (hold it with forceps or a hemostat) ... melts quickly = pewter .

Another less painful way is to take it to a local jeweler (call them first & maybe shop around) and have them test it while-u-wait .

It's also possible to do a specific gravity test on your item , but it requires a really good scale , submersion in water & accurate math skills .

I think the second option is a better one for you .