Ice Bowl
Maker
Gorham Manufacturing Company
(American, founded 1831)
Date1870
MediumSilver (30 oz.)
DimensionsOverall: 11 1/4 in., (28.6 cm,)
ClassificationsFURNISHINGS
Credit LineMuseum Purchase by exchange in part with funds from the Sarah T. Norris Estate Bequest and Mrs. James L. Lowery
Object number2002.3
DescriptionBowl formed as rockscape/iceburg hung with icicles, set on a conforming base. A cast polar bear applied to either end of the bowl.On View
Not on viewCollections
Copyright<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/80x15.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>.
Label TextDuring the nineteenth century, American entrepreneurs developed the technology to harvest, ship, and store ice, making it readily available to consumers. As a result, the use of ice at the table, and the making of ice cream, grew in popularity. Silver manufacturers responded by marketing suitable tablewares. The form of this bowl-an iceberg with two polar bears-expresses its use and reflects contemporary interest in Acrtic exploration. American artists, such as Frederic Church, embraced Arctic subject matter traveling to areas such as Labrador and Newfoundland in the late 1850s. In 1867 the United States government purchased Alaska from Russia, introducing new subject matter for artist-explorers.
Gorham introduced this bowl model (no. 125) on April 15, 1870 at the manufacturing cost of $81.96.
