Gorham Silver: Designing Brilliance 1850–1970, May 3, 2019‐December 1, 2019 When Jabez Gorham founded a small workshop a few blocks from here in 1831, handcrafted silver spoons were a principal product of his business. When the RISD Museum acquired a Gorham spoon in 1909, it marked the beginning of a collection of works by the Gorham Manufacturing Company that today comprises nearly 5,000 objects and design drawings. This exhibition—assembled from the museum’s collection with important loans from other institutions and private collections— illuminates the heights of Gorham’s industry, ambition, artistry, technology, and innovation. The Gorham Manufacturing Company was an inimitable force in the city of Providence and around the globe, boldly growing into the largest silver company in the world. Gorham created some of the most exceptional works ever made in silver, forever changing the landscape of American decorative arts. The company also profoundly changed Rhode Island by training and employing generations of highly skilled workers and, like many local industries, leaving behind a complicated legacy. Visit the Gorham Workbench in this gallery and access the Soundwalk tour (information at right) to learn about the company’s impact on the community, labor practices, and the environment. Spanning 120 years, the objects on view here testify to the undiminished brilliance of Gorham’s workers as they collaboratively translated ideas into gleaming new realities, the restless innovation of the company’s leaders, and a dazzling array of aesthetic styles. Elizabeth A. Williams David and Peggy Rockefeller Curator of Decorative Arts and Design RISD Museum CHECKLIST OF THE EXHIBITION Gorham Manufacturing Company, American, 1831‐ Charles T. Brandreth, American, 1908‐ca. 2000 Monumental Coffeepot in the Puritan Pattern, ca. 1950 Silver with ivory Gift of Lenox, Incorporated 2005.118.43 Gorham created these larger‐than‐life designs for promotional use. Precisely made to scale, the coffeepot was originally one of a pair. Weighing an impressive 25 pounds, it was produced in Gorham’s Puritan pattern, which was first introduced in the 1930s. Gorham Manufacturing Company, American, 1831‐ Monumental Spoon in the Melrose Pattern, ca. 1950 Silver Gift of Lenox, Incorporated 2005.118.44 Gorham created these larger‐than‐life designs for promotional use. The 15‐pound sterling‐silver spoon is one of several made, each representing one of the company’s most popular flatware patterns. The spoon’s pattern, Melrose, made its debut in 1948. This example—nearly eight times the size of a typical teaspoon—has a bowl big enough to hold a gallon of liquid. Gorham Silver and American Industrialism To Handle Silver As Though It Were Putty Between 1831 and the 1850s, Gorham grew significantly, expanding from a small workshop to several multistory buildings and from 14 to nearly 200 employees. These changes can be credited to John Gorham, who joined his father’s business in 1841 and soon initiated seismic shifts in the traditions and scale of New England silver production. He realized the need for machinery and equipment with, in his words, “sufficient size and power for us to handle silver as though it were putty.” John Gorham installed steam power in the manufactory in 1847. He then traveled to England in 1852 to order a steam‐powered drop press designed to make silver wares—the first of its kind. In addition to making flatware utensils for eating and serving, the company began creating elaborate hollowware vessels such as tea services, with bodies formed by steam‐powered spinning machines. The company’s advancements in modern mechanization were complemented by the employment of experienced silversmiths well versed in a range of techniques and the establishment of a large library of design references that emphasized ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian influences and naturalistic studies of plants and animals from around the world. Gorham Manufacturing Company, American, 1831‐ Tea and Coffee Service, ca. 1860 Coin silver with gilding The Gorham Collection. Gift of Textron Inc. 1991.126.215 Composed of five pieces—coffeepot, teapot, cream pitcher, sugar bowl, and waste bowl—this tea service is characteristic of the elaborate examples Gorham began making in the 1850s. In 1861, after Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as president, First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln chose an eight‐piece service in this pattern for use in the White House. Tea Services Silver tea services are more than finished objects designed to serve family, friends, and guests on various occasions. A closer look at their forms reveals different styles, ornaments, and shapes, encouraging consideration as to how Gorham silversmiths made them. Forms from three different services have been aligned here for direct comparison, illustrating the similarities and differences between the vessels. Gorham Manufacturing Company, American, 1831‐ Pattern 850 Tea and Coffee Service, 1871 Silver with gilding and ivory Gift of Miss Mary Ann Lippitt 2001.74 Works in silver were often commissioned for important events. This service celebrates the 25th wedding anniversary of Henry F. and Mary Ann Lippitt, who were married in 1845. Each piece bears the date and the engraved monogram M.A.L. In 1865 the Lippitts built a Renaissance Revival house—which is still standing on Hope Street in Providence—and this same style is found in the tea service’s arched and scrolled borders. From 1875 to 1877, Henry Lippitt served as the governor of Rhode Island. Gorham Manufacturing Company, American, 1831‐ Pattern 500 Tea and Coffee Service, 1871 Silver with ivory Gift of Elizabeth Mayer Buchanek 2001.86 The consumption of tea and the social practices surrounding it prompted Gorham to produce a plethora of silver vessels, services, and utensils for the formal late‐afternoon event known as tea, which was based on British customs. The American predilection for coffee in the morning and after dinner added even more vessels to services. Gorham Manufacturing Company, American, 1831‐ Pattern 170 Tea Service, ca. 1860 Coin silver with ivory Museum Acquisition Fund 2001.37 Made from about a dozen parts, this teapot was fabricated using approximately the same number of processes. The body was shaped by blunt tools that pressed a sheet of silver against a wooden chuck as it spun on a lathe. The spout and circular handles were cast as two halves and soldered together. The handles on vessels meant to hold hot liquids required ivory insulators, so these were cut, inserted, and pinned. The butterfly on the lid was cast as a single piece and attached with tiny amounts of solder. The vessel’s body was fit together from two parts, then the seam was covered by a border created by passing the metal between small patterned rollers. An engraver applied the garlanded medallion and monogram, and the bands of geometric patterning were achieved by engine‐turned engraving Ancient Influences Gorham Manufacturing Company, American, 1831‐ George Wilkinson, English, 1819‐1894 Isis Ice Serving Spoon, ca. 1871 Silver with gilding Museum purchase: gift of the Friends of the Decorative Arts Department 1992.009 Conceived in 1870 by lead designer George Wilkinson, Gorham’s Isis pattern is an example of Egyptian Revival style, popular in America beginning in the late 1860s. The pattern is named after Isis, the Egyptian goddess of magic and ideal womanhood. The gilded bowl of this spoon, designed to serve ice, is formed by intertwined papyrus and lotus plants that rise beneath the vulture wings and cobra—both pairs of symbols representing the goddess’s unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, respectively. Gorham Manufacturing Company, American, 1831‐ George Wilkinson, English, 1819‐1894 Shreve, Stanwood & Company, American, active 1860 ‐ 1869 Sugar Bowl, ca. 1867 Coin silver Gift of The Wunsch Americana Foundation 1986.076.2 Gorham Manufacturing Company, American, 1831‐ George Wilkinson, English, 1819‐1894 Shreve, Stanwood & Company, American, active 1860 ‐ 1869 Creamer, ca. 1867 Coin silver Gift of the Wunsch Americana Foundation, Inc. 1986.170 After Napoleon’s military campaign in Egypt first influenced European design in the early 1800s, Egyptian Revival style resurfaced in America in the late 1860s, as the country looked beyond the Civil War to current events that included the 1869 opening of the Suez Canal in Egypt. Ancient Egypt is referenced in the geometric key and stylized lotus‐blossom borders at the top of this sugar and creamer set, which rests on feet formed as small sphinxes with wings. Gorham Manufacturing Company, American, 1831‐ Shreve & Company, American, 1852 ‐ Wine Decanter Set, ca. 1865 Coin silver and glass Gift of Kathy Field Malavasic 2017.69.3 This decanter set features satyrs, ancient Greek mythological forest creatures that are fond of pleasure. Satyrs are associated with Dionysus, the god of wine, and here they may hint at the effects of drinking alcohol. Mounted with characteristic horns, seven satyrs hold oval rings in their mouths as four hairy legs ending in clawed toes descend from the center sphere. The three cut‐crystal decanters are held in place by circular silver frames interspersed with smaller rings designed to hold the bottles’ stoppers. Gorham Manufacturing Company, American, 1831‐ Medallion Pitcher, 1864 Coin silver The Gorham Collection. Gift of Textron Inc. 1991.126.200 Gorham’s design library, filled with volumes and objects from across cultures and eras, provided references and inspiration for the company’s designers. Ornamented with three female portrait medallions, this pitcher reflects stylistic interest in ancient Greek and Roman ornament. An 1862 inventory of Gorham manufactory lists a set of classical plaster portrait medallions in the rooms of George Wilkinson, the company’s lead designer, who excelled in creating classical and Renaissance‐inspired forms and decorations. Rococo Revival Repoussé Gorham & Thurber, American, 1850 ‐ 1852 Tea Service, 1850 Coin silver The Art Institute of Chicago, Mary Swissler Oldberg Fund, 2015.606.1‐ 5; The Art Institute of Chicago, Bequest of Mrs.