Shield made by electroplating

Electroplating, one of electricity's most popular applications in the mid-19th century, is a process in which electric current is used to dissolve metal particles in a mould covered with a conducting material that are then deposited on a metal surface. The technique has many applications, from reproducing engraved plaques to plating copper-based metal with silver or gold. The Frenchman Christofle and the Englishman Elkington made the most of the process and electroplated numerous masterpieces by silversmiths of the past, many of which were ordered by decorative arts museums to create galleries of models intended for artists. Alexandre Gueyton, an accomplished electroplater who gave the Conservatory a collection of electroplate proofs in 1853, may have donated this shield, which is of unknown origin but probably reproduces a historic model.