American Aesthetic Sterling Silver
This November's American Furniture, Folk and Decorative Arts auction brings a remarkable selection of American Aesthetic Movement sterling silver to the marketplace.
Aestheticism was a relatively short-lived but significant cultural movement of the late 19th century that valued aesthetic qualities above all else in the creation of literature, decorative, and fine art. It encouraged a lifestyle that sought beauty in everyday household objects. The movement's sources of beauty were found in nature, and most importantly for American decorative arts, in the traditional designs of non-Western cultures.
The Aesthetic Movement in America was ignited by the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876. Nearly ten million visitors had first-hand exposure to the decorative arts, including textiles, glass, ceramics, and furniture of Asian, North African, and Middle Eastern countries. The Japan Pavilion was a sensation, and a mania for everything "Japonesque" ensued. Exhibits of traditional goods from Islamic nations sparked a craze for the "Saracenic" style. America's silver manufacturers responded quickly and passionately to the demand, pushing their craftsmen to extraordinary accomplishments in chasing and casting.
No one was more inspired by the artistry of non-Western influence than silversmith, collector, and Tiffany & Company chief designer, Edward C. Moore (1827-1891). During the Aesthetic Movement, Moore's collection of exceptional decorative arts from ancient Greece and Rome, and the Far and Near East, inspired the designs of Tiffany & Co. His collection and influence were presented in the exhibition and publication, Collecting Inspiration: Edward C. Moore at Tiffany & Co., at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, June 9- October 20, 2024.
The November 12th auction offers a dramatic three-piece "Saracenic" sterling tea set (Lot 250) created at Tiffany & Co. under Moore's leadership. This tea service is illustrated and discussed in John Loring's Magnificent Tiffany Silver (2001), p. 147, and incorporates varied and complex Middle Eastern designs.
Other New York manufacturers answered the demand for Aesthetic products, including Theodore B. Starr (1837-1907), a Madison Avenue, New York, importer and silver manufacturer. A five-piece "Persian" tea service (Lot 252) by Starr will be offered. Engraved on the undersides, the tea set was presented to Eliza Bishop Emery (1833-1906) of Massachusetts on the occasion of her 25th wedding anniversary to William Henry Emery (1822-1893) in 1881.
The Gorham Manufacturing Company of Providence, Rhode Island, was not to be outdone by the competition in its Aesthetic production. This large and remarkable "Japonesque" punch bowl (Lot 249), with a date mark of 1885, is hand-chased with sea serpents and fish in a tumultuous sea and accented with realistically cast seashells, seaweed, and crustaceans. The cast sea forms belong to Gorham's "Narragansett" line. Introduced in 1884, the pattern was named after a Native American tribe from the Rhode Island Sound area. The punch bowl overwhelmingly illustrates a brilliant confluence of Japanese influence and Atlantic Ocean reality. A near mate to this punch bowl, retaining its original ladle and bearing the same maker's markings, is in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (1980.383).