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Silver in the spirit of modernism
Modernist, Modern American, and Sky-scraper are three of the names given to silver or silverplate patterns or objects made in the United States in 1928. These names reflect the conscious effort of American silver manufacturers to break with the past and emulate the latest designs current in Europe--first in France, then in Germany and Scandinavia. American consumers were ready for a change. One year later 185,256 people visited the annual exhibition entitled The Architect and the Industrial Arts, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. |
The show, which included only American-made products designed specifically for the exhibition, proved to be so popular that it was held over for an additional five months. Department stores promoted this new aesthetic, mostly through special exhibitions. The silver on view confirmed that designers had moved away from historical revivals to the new modern idiom.
An exhibition that surveys the evolution of design in American silver between 1925 and 2000, entitled Modernism in American Silver: 20th Century Design, is on view at the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D. C., through January 22, 2006. It then travels to three other museums: the Dallas Museum of Art (June 18-September 24, 2006), the Wolfsonian-Florida International University, Miami (November 17, 2006-March 25, 2007), and the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, in Memphis, Tennessee (April 22, 2007-July 15, 2007). There are more than two hundred pieces in the exhibition, including examples of both silver and silverplated hollowware and flatware.
The Great Depression was a substantial setback for all luxury goods manufacturers, and silver companies were among the most hard-hit. Adding insult to injury, new materials were introduced, notably aluminum and chromium-plated brass and other metals, which were considerably less expensive than silver and needed no maintenance. The modern aesthetic yielded to two fresh styles: streamlining and a stripped-down classicism. Indeed two patterns names of the 1930s were Modern Classic and Classic Modern, and ornamental motifs such as palmettes, columns, anthemia, and lotuses, all pared down to their essential lines, were frequently used. Toward the end of the decade the influence of imported silver, particularly that made by the Danish firm Georg Jensen, was significant.
During the war years of the 1940s manufacturing ceased when the government decreed that factories be converted to make munitions. Consequently no new patterns of flatware or hollowware were introduced by the leading makers, and after the war the companies resurrected old patterns. By the 1950s, undulating biomorphic forms took over modern design. Highly sculptural forms were deliberately asymmetrical and pattern names such as Contour and Silver Sculpture found their way into the marketplace. Formal dining had given way to casual entertaining, which called for buffets rather than seated dinners. Silver manufacturers responded to this change by concentrating on flatware designs, including some made in silverplate to keep costs down.
More recently, silverplate designed by architects has found an enthusiastic audience. This includes pieces designed for Swid Powell by Richard Meier, Robert A. M. Stern, Charles Gwathmey, Frank Gehry, Robert Venturi, and others. Today, of the largest and most respected silver manufacturing firms that existed in the late nineteenth century, only four are still active. Yet individual craftsmen in increasing numbers are creating one-of-a-kind pieces for retail in specialty shops around the country.
The catalogue of the exhibition is written by Jewel Stern and is available from the Renwick Gallery by telephoning 202-357-1445.
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