From silver spoons to silver bullets, silver permeates our everyday culture and language. For millennia we've used it to buy what we need, adorn our bodies and trumpet our social status. Silver vanquishes our insecurities, as well as vampires, werewolves and our smelly socks. Once valued primarily for its beauty and rarity, silver is now also exploited for its chemistry; while it used to lubricate markets, bolster dowries and pay armies, now it permeates our electronics, textiles and medical devices. Featuring many glistening illustrations of silver in nature and art, jewellery, film, advertising and popular culture, this is a superb overview of a metal both precious and useful, with a rich and eventful history.

Author Biography

Lindsay Shen is Director of Art Collections at Chapman University, California. She is the author of Knowledge is Pleasure: Florence Ayscough in Shanghai (2012).