THERE are two ways of looking at silversmith Victoria Kershaw's latest wheeze, a solid silver, hallmarked Made in Sheffield chip fork.
That's right, chip fork. Exactly the same size and shape as a wooden one.
It's either an over the top, hang the expense extravagance not quite in keeping with these credit crunched days . . .
Or it's a witty and appropriate link between the Sheffield craftsmen of the past and today.
Being as Victoria has etched it with headlines and stories from The Star we'll settle for the latter.
Either way it will cost you £65.
"A lot of my work has humour in it," says Victoria, speaking at her workshop at Butcher Works on Arundel Street, Sheffield.
There's the solid silver wall sconce which is half a teapot and doubles as a lamp with a wick coming out of its spout.
A silver bird feeder must be the ultimate bit of garden furniture for the millionnaire who has everything.
But £65 - you could get a lot of bags of chips for that.
"I think it is a really reasonable price," says Victoria. And what's more she's already sold quite a few at the Goldsmiths Fair down in London.
"People absolutely loved them. One of the first I sold was to a woman who was brought up in Sheffield. It reminded her of home."
For over a hundred years journalists have resigned themselves to their work ending up as chip paper (although that's actually forbidden in these Elf n Safety days) but few could have thought it would be transferred to a chip fork.
"The reason I wanted to use the Star was because of the paper's connection to the silversmiths of yesterday and the new ones working in the city today," says Victoria.
She may not realise but those chip forks have an honourable tradition. There was the city industrialist who had a silver peg to pin his napkin to his lapel.
And another who had a tiny silver vase to keep his buttonhole fresh.
Victoria, aged 31, has been shortlisted for the National Metalwork and Design Awards this December with a prize of £10,000.
You can see one of her items, a tea set, on display at the Millennium Gallery.
Until we took this picture Victoria had never eaten chips with a silver chip fork before.
"I use one for my pasta and salad lunch," she says.
Visit www.victoriakershaw.com
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