A planished surface is a metal surface that has been smoothed and hardened by planishing, the process of striking the metal repeatedly with a polished, slightly rounded hammer against a smooth stake or anvil. Planishing removes the uneven marks left by raising or shaping, consolidates the metal and produces either a very smooth finish or a gentle overall pattern of small facets.
Planishing has long been a fundamental step in hand-raised silver, copper, brass and pewter, carried out after a vessel has been shaped and before it is finally polished. On most Georgian and Victorian silver the planishing marks were subsequently polished away, but faint ripples can often be seen when a piece is held at an angle to the light, a useful sign of hand-made work. The Arts and Crafts Movement deliberately left the hammer marks visible as an honest record of craftsmanship, and planished or hand-hammered finishes became a signature of C. R. Ashbee's Guild of Handicraft and many other workshops of the period. Collectors judge a planished surface by its evenness and depth, and should avoid heavy polishing or buffing, which can soften the facets and erase the evidence of the maker's hand.
