Gorham Silver: Designing Brilliance, 1850-1970

Description

Established in 1831, the Gorham Manufacturing Company adeptly coupled art and industry, rising to become an industry leader of stylistic and technological achievement in America and around the world. It was the only major competitor of Tiffany and Co., producing public presentation pieces and one-of-a-kind showstoppers for important occasions, as well as tableware for everyday use. Its works trace a narrative arc not only of great design but also of American ambitions. In this volume, insightful essays are accompanied by gorgeous new photography of splendid silver pieces along with a wealth of archival images, design drawings, casting patterns, and company records that reveal a rich heritage of a giant in decorative arts and silver manufacturing. Produced in collaboration with the RISD Museum, which has the world s most significant collection of Gorham silver, this major new book casts new light on more than 120 years of grand aesthetic styles in silver, innovative industrial practices, and American social and cultural norms.

Elizabeth A. Williams is David and Peggy Rockefeller Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, RISD Museum.

"What shines through here, in addition to the contextual approach, are Gorham's magnificent objects, from the nineteenth-century revival styles through the aesthetic movment, from the art nouveau Martele of William Christmas Codman to the modernism of Erik Magnussen and Donald H. Colflesh, as covered in detail in Barquists's essay on Gorham's evolving designs" -Silver Magazine