Gorham Sterling Silver 1912 Hammered Centerpiece Bowl with Underplate in Art Nouveau Style

Gorham hand hammered sterling silver centerpiece bowl from 1912, gilt inside, in exquisite Art Nouveau style adorned with raised grape and vine motifs. It measures 12 1/2'' in diameter by 4 1/8'' in height. It is accompanied by a matching Theodore Starr underplate, also adorned with grape and vine motifs, which measures 11 1/4'' in diameter. Total weight is 65.5 troy ounces. Hallmarks are shown. 

During the heyday of American silver manufacturing–approximately 1850 to 1940–Gorham was one of the most influential. The White House has used Gorham silver services during many administrations. Mary Todd Lincoln purchased an impressive tea and flatware service for use in the White House in 1859. Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant asked Gorham to commemorate the country's one-hundredth anniversary with a spectacular Century Vase that contained over 2,000 oz (57,000 g) of sterling silver, and in 1899, it produced a grand "loving cup" composed of 70,000 dimes was designed for Admiral George Dewey. Colonel Henry Jewett Furber placed the largest single commission Gorham ever received for what became known as the famous Furber service. The opulent 740-piece service represents Victorian era dining at its most elaborate. The monumental silver and parcel-gilt "Neptune" epergne made for Furber as part of this service was displayed at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876. Gorham artisans also sculpted the famous monument of George Washington in the Capitol's Rotunda.

Theodore B. Starr was a company of silversmiths founded in New York in 1862 by Theodore Starr. In 1880 "The Independent" published an article in which “The House of Theodore B. Starr” is described as an establishment that develops “an educated demand for ‘beauty in use;’” and where one will find “his taste and his intelligence stimulated.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, who owns and displays pieces by T.B. Starr, champions Starr as “among the most prominent and influential jewelry and silversmithing firms in New York City during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries” whose work was “enthusiastically heralded in the press.” The company was incorporated in 1907 by Starr's son, before being bought in 1918 by Reed and Barton, and finally closing in 1923.

Please feel free to ask us any questions, and please see our other listings. We hand polish all items before shipping them out, but if there is interest for a professional polishing and/or engraving removal, we can take care of that for an additional charge and with delayed shipping.