Spelter been used since about the 1860s to make statues, tablewares, and lamps that resemble bronze. Spelter is soft and breaks easily. To test for spelter, scratch the base of the piece. Bronze will appear as bright yellow while spelter will show a silvery scratch. The word "pewter" is thought to be derived from the word "spelter". Zinc ingots formed by smelting might also be termed spelter. Spelter Spelter, while sometimes used merely as a synonym for zinc, is often used to identify a zinc alloy. In this sense it might be an alloy of equal parts copper and zinc, i.e.
Latten is not generally referred to as latten. This calamine brass was generally manufactured as hammered sheet or "battery brass" (hammered by a "battery" of water-powered trip hammers) and cast brass was rare. "Latten" also refers to a type of tin plating on iron (or possibly some other base metal), which is known as "white latten"; and "black latten" refers to "laten-brass", which is brass milled into thin plates or sheets. The term "latten" has also been used, rarely, to refer to lead alloys. In general, metal in thin sheets is said to be latten such as "gold latten"; and "lattens"