Pitcher
Maker
Gorham Manufacturing Company
(American, founded 1831)
Date1898
MediumSilver
DimensionsOverall: 9 3/4 x 7in. (24.8 x 17.8cm)
ClassificationsCULINARY ARTIFACTS
Credit LineGift of John Devereux Kernan
Terms
Object number85.86
DescriptionMartele decorated with floral repousse and abstract Art Nouveau motifs; fire scale on inside; rim is uneven with striations extending downward; scrolled handle is fluted and chased.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 TextWhile the Gorham Company did not officially launch the Martelé line until the 1900 Exposition Universelle, it began experimenting with the forms and motifs as early as 1897. The date mark on this pitcher indicates that it was made in 1898. Another mark, a small "+", reveals that it was included in Gorham's display in Paris.
The pitcher is decorated using a technique known as chasing. The design is drawn in lamp blacking on paper and then transferred to the silver; the object is heated so that the transferred image will not smear. Chasing tools are used to push the design into the silver. The final step is to polish the piece, leaving some of the lamp black intact so as to emphasize the design-light polished silver highlighted by black lines.
ATD and PC
