posted 07-26-2008 07:07 AM            

I don't know the answer to this:

But what do YOU think is the most beautiful piece of silver in the world?
("The one that I own" is not really cricket.)

Clue: What is beauty, anyway?

posted 07-26-2008 07:00 PM            

1. An early seal top spoon that my wife gave me on our Silver Wedding. A complete and delightful surprise. My opinion is of course coloured by sentiment, but associations must have some influence on our perception of beauty.

2. The one that got away. The item I most recently coveted but was not brave enough or rich enough to put in a high enough bid for.

3. The very first Old English pattern ladle: simple, graceful, form matching function.

4. A set of soup spoons that we had made for us. We specified the design so they must be absolutely ideal!

posted 07-27-2008 11:00 PM            

is shown at this website with some of the other works that were in the exhibit.

posted 07-28-2008 07:39 AM            

I wondered about something like the Burghley Nef:

However that is perhaps more an impressive piece than one of simple beauty.

The piece of silver I would most love to own and that I think is beautiful work of art by any standards is this little figurine, found not too far from where I live:

Dating from 1250 - 1350 and found at Mundensbury Farm, Great Munden, Hertfordshire in 1999, this is the unidentified standing figure of a priest, apostle or saint, only about 1� inches high. Elongated stance, head covered by hood, tunic belted at waist, flowing drapery is split on the sides to reveal decorative embroidered lining. Right hand in front of chest, left hand sadly broken off.

posted 07-28-2008 12:12 PM            

For a higher-resolution view, go to the Yale Art Museum and search on accession number 1940.125. The salver is also pictured on page 152 of Silver in American Life.

For this question, I put aside technical achievement and impressiveness, and just concentrated on my own desire to look at the object. I found that what appeals to me most are relatively plain objects with some engraving or chasing, but that are not covered with decoration. The contrast is an important part of the appeal.

posted 07-28-2008 01:05 PM            

Production details from the book Silver by Jessie McNab:

quote:

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The figure was made from fifteen or more pieces of silver sheet, soldered together and modeled from the inside by tooling. The facial lines and design on the skirt are chased.

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posted 07-28-2008 09:43 PM            

~Cheryl

posted 07-30-2008 12:25 PM            

In the tureen, for example, were the shells and lobster cast and applied? What about the decoration in the center and around the sides of the plate?

I realize how little I understand about silver production as I study these two pieces.

posted 07-30-2008 05:58 PM            

Then, on a hunt for information about casting, came across this highly relevant passage on p. 19 of Silver:

quote:

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In the eighteenth century, during the rococo period, cast relief additions were soldered onto raised or cast bodies of highly decorated wares. Although their names are unknown and unsung, the artists who carved the wooden models from which molds were made for casting the metal were indirectly responsible for the elan of the finished work. They were probably independent artisans not employed in the silversmith's shop itself, although many may have worked regularly to the orders of a particular silversmith.

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posted 07-31-2008 02:01 AM            

Bonnestrenne made the stand/underplate; Adnet made the tureen and cover. From the catalogue: "The Kingston tureen is composed of dozens of separate cast parts, all rendered by the lost wax process, then soldered on, as on the cover, held together by screws or riveted pins." The body was cast in two parts, it says, while the crab on the lid alone was cast in no less than fourteen parts, the molds probably taken from nature! The pieces were refined by chasing before assembly and finished by selective burnishing afterwards, to heighten the difference in textures and control the play of light.

posted 07-31-2008 02:02 PM            

Whoa. An entire catalogue devoted to one piece. Granted, an unusually complex and magnificent height-of-style-and-quality piece. Now I'm even more envious of those of you who took the opportunity to see it up close.

posted 07-31-2008 02:42 PM            

From the International Herald Tribune in 1999:

quote:

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The story of the rococo pair of tureens commissioned in 1734 by the Duke of Kingston and designed by Juste-Aurele Meissonier is an apt symbol of the return of the J.P. Morgan era.

In 1909 the pair was sold at auction in Paris. It was bought by Morgan via Jacques Seligmann, a famous dealer acting as his agent. When the pair resurfaced at auction in 1977 at Christie's in Geneva, it fetched $1.1 million, and was broken up.

One tureen went to the Cleveland Museum of Art, the other to the great European collector, Baron Heinz Thyssen-Bornemisza.

On May 13 last year, that same piece, consigned by Baron Thyssen, sold at Sotheby's New York for $5.72 million — the second highest price ever paid for silver. Europe has now lost the pair.

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Christie's likewise had a catalogue devoted to the tureens when they were being sold in 1977, though from the listing at an antique-books dealer it doesn't sound quite as elaborate or informative as the Sotheby version.

posted 07-31-2008 03:13 PM            

Here are two, from the sold archives of a British firm specializing in late-19th and early-20th century art nouveau and Jugendstil etc. work.

C.R. Ashbee, British, 1905.

posted 07-31-2008 07:38 PM            

I, too, appreciate that object. The look of the eye reminds me of the Mona Lisa - knowing, self-aware and of equal stature with the viewer. The feminine lower portion combines with the bovine upper in an aesthetic representation of life-giving nourishment and service to both body and mind. From another perspective, it appears a piece of quintessential kitsch - amusing and modern in the extreme. I find this bipolar aspect extremely diverting.

posted 07-31-2008 08:49 PM            

Ellabee - have been a fan of British Arts & Crafts since my teens, not just the metalware, but also furniture, textiles, etc. Have always liked the pieces Kate Harris designed for Hutton & Sons, and the sensuous lines of the one you show makes it one of my favorites - believe the same design is in one of the British museums (though which one eludes me at the moment).