posted 09-21-1999 12:38 PM            

Ellen (caw) -

In the Gaylord post Gaylord Silvercraft (Winged Hammer Mark - ?), you mentioned the American Silver Museum which is no longer in Meriden, Ct. I was excited to hear that it is reopening in Wallingford, Ct.

When is the opening?
What else can you tell us?

posted 06-07-2006 12:59 PM            

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American Silver Museum
Meriden, CT
Phone: 203 630 37xx (the published number is not correct - Its someone's residence)

• Statement of Purpose: Showcase the art, history and science of Silver and silver making in America since Colonial times.
  
• Hours: T-Sa: 11-5; Su: 12-4.
  
• Key Personnel: Brenda J. Vumbaco, Executive Director

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Did the American Silver Museum ever open? When did it close? It is apparently not open because the phone number is to a private residence; The person who answered says they get calls all the time for the ASM because of the web page and there is no one to contact about the web page.

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'SILVER CITY' PLANS A MUSEUM OF THE METAL
By SHARON L. BASS
Published: May 3, 1987

LEAD: JOE PISTILLI, a Meriden silversmith, likes to talk about the Connecticut silver industry of yesteryear. Meriden, he noted, was known as the Silver City of the World, producing the largest volumes of silver and silver-plated wares in the world.

JOE PISTILLI, a Meriden silversmith, likes to talk about the Connecticut silver industry of yesteryear. Meriden, he noted, was known as the Silver City of the World, producing the largest volumes of silver and silver-plated wares in the world.

"Silver production used to be an art, a craft," said Mr. Pistilli, owner of the Orum Silver Company in Meriden, a silver restoration and repair shop his grandfather started nearly half a century ago. He lowered his voice and added: "People used to put a lot of pride into their work. But no more."

There used to be 130 silver manufacturing concerns in the state, most of which were in the Meriden and Wallingford area. There is now one major Connecticut manufacturer, J.C. Boardmen & Company of Wallingford, and a handful of small ones, including Mr. Pistilli's operation.

In an effort to capture the heritage of this dying industry, a group of Meriden businessmen is opening a silver museum next year in downtown Meriden to feature the silver crafts of the past such as the ones made by Mr. Pistilli's grandfather.

The organizers say the American Silver Museum will be the first of its type in the country. As well as providing a place to exhibit silver collections, some dating back hundreds of years, the museum is being touted as an anchor in Meriden's $25 million downtown revitalization plan and the museum is expected to stimulate the city's economy by attracting more tourism.

"We needed something special for downtown, a hook," said Robert C. Ledoux, executive vice president of the Greater Meriden Chamber of Commerce and secretary of the Board of the American Silver Museum Corporation.

The city of Meriden has given $50,000 to the museum corporation, said Mr. Ledoux. It has received about $1 million in cash, supplies and services from area businesses and individuals.

The corporation is awaiting word from the State Department of Economic Development on a $2 million grant from the department's program for preservation for historical assets.

The idea for the museum came from Carter H. White, publisher of The Record-Journal of Meriden and a museum board member. The museum will be housed in an early 20th-century two-story gray limestone building, donated by a Meriden developer, Joseph Carabetta. Mr. White said he had wanted to open an industrial museum, but after the 1983 closing of the city's last major silver manufacturing concern, the International Silver Company, he felt "moved to create a silver-only museum."

Silver manufacturing in Connecticut began in 1794 in Meriden and gradually evolved into the state becoming the largest manufacturer of silver tableware products in the world, said Stephen Victor, a New Haven museum planner who is working on the Meriden project. The industry had employed thousands of people throughout the state.

A few owners tenaciously hold to their traditions of manufacturing silver, but like Mr. Pistilli they are devoted primarily to repairs and restorations of antique silverware and silver plating because that is more profitable, said Mr. Victor.

Mr. Pistilli said Federal restrictions placed on silver manufacturers to control air and water pollution resulting from the manufacturing processes have driven many of them out and have prompted some to open operations in places like Taiwan and Puerto Rico where labor is cheaper.

Burt Boardmen, president of J.C. Boardmen & Company, the last major silver manufacturer in the state, blamed foreign labor competition, poor management and the cessation of apprenticeship programs of Connecticut silver companies for the demise of the silver industry in the state.

Mr. Boardmen, a member of the museum board, said he will donate and lend items worth $150,000 to the museum. These would include, he said, a sterling silver saddle, flatware and holloware such as vases, tea sets and candelabra that his company has produced since his family founded it in 1798.

Other items the museum board members hope to feature include silver collections from businesses throughout the nation, including the International Silver Company's 650-piece collection now housed in the Meriden Historical Society; a silver western saddle once owned by President Reagan; a sterling silver replica of a sailing ship, the Buffalo Hunt; a silver-plated three-foot-tall statue of an Indian slaying a buffalo, and a statue of Paul Revere.

Another donation to the museum project will be the architectural services of Paul E. Pozzi, of the New Haven firm Carlin-Pozzi-Chin. Mr. Pozzi will design the interior and exterior of the 15,000-square-foot building, which was the former office of the Connecticut Light and Power Company and, later, of the Colonial Bank.

The museum would offer slide and videotape shows on silver manufacturing and occasional demonstrations by silversmiths. A gift shop and bookstore are planned as well.

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The The Wallingford Historic Preservation Trust mentions the ASM:

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The Johnson Mansion [gone from the internet]

Built in 1866, this stately Victorian mansion will be restored to become the home of The American Silver Museum collection.

At the museum, visitors will learn about the growth of America's silver industry, which played a major role in the economy of nineteenth century Wallingford. Skilled craftsman will demonstrate silverware manufacturing techniques, while reenactors portraying members of the Johnson household will conduct tours of the property and explain the importance of silverware in a Victorian household.

Before the Johnson Mansion was donated to the Trust, its most recent use was as an office building. Today, while it is awaiting restoration, it is often used as the site for Trust fund-raising events.

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The Connecticut Department of Economic & Community Development spring 2002 newsletter:

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The American Silver Museum Finds A Home In Wallingford

Thanks to a $500,000 grant from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), the Wallingford Historic Preservation Trust (Trust) has begun restoring the Johnson Mansion, future home of the American Silver Museum.

In 1998, Joseph Ortense Jr. donated the Main Street mansion to the Trust. That donation, along with funds from private investors and DECD, provided the impetus for the Trust to hire a local contractor, Robison, Inc., to begin the renovation work. Wallingford's leadership in the silver industry dates back to colonial times and is the driving force behind the Trust's efforts to open the museum.

At a ceremony in downtown Wallingford, DECD Development Manager Liz Appel, members of the Trust, and project supporters spoke of the intent to continue raising funds needed to complete the project.

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posted 04-27-2012 10:08 AM            

The web site still has:

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The Johnson Mansion

Built in 1866, this stately Victorian mansion will be restored to become the home of The American Silver Museum collection.

At the museum, visitors will learn about the growth of America's silver industry, which played a major role in the economy of nineteenth century Wallingford. Skilled craftsman will demonstrate silverware manufacturing techniques, while reenactors portraying members of the Johnson household will conduct tours of the property and explain the importance of silverware in a Victorian household.

Before the Johnson Mansion was donated to the Trust, its most recent use was as an office building. Today, while it is awaiting restoration, it is often used as the site for Trust fund-raising events.

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posted 04-27-2012 06:23 PM            

"PROVIDENCE, RI – The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) is pleased to announce a gift from the Gorham historical collections that will complement its current holdings to create the most significant collection of Gorham objects and documentation anywhere. Gorham Manufacturing Company, established in 1831 on Steeple Street in Providence, was once the world’s largest silver manufacturer, rivaled in reputation only by Tiffany and Co., employing some 2,000 designers and producers of flatware, holloware, and presentation silver, and including an extensive bronze-casting division."

"In 1991, Lenox Incorporated, then a subsidiary of Brown-Forman, the Louisville, Kentucky, luxury goods and premium beverage company, purchased Gorham from Textron, Inc. At that time nearly 2,000 pieces of the company’s most important work in silver were donated from Gorham’s own collection to the Decorative Arts Department of The RISD Museum. Some of these objects, including elements of the only intact grand Victorian dining service by an American maker, are on view at Pendleton House and are a cornerstone of the Museum’s silver collection."

"Adding to the original gift, Lenox has now given approximately fifty presentation drawings (large-scale, detailed renderings by some of the company’s finest designers) and 1,500 working drawings to The RISD Museum. A group of these drawings is by Danish émigré designer Erik Magnussen, whose cubist coffee service for Gorham is among the treasures of the Museum. The single most important presentation drawing is of the Admiral Dewey Cup, designed by William Christmas Codman in 1899 to celebrate the victory of Dewey during the Spanish American War and made from 70,000 dimes collected from a grateful public by the New York Journal. The drawing is to scale and is six feet high. Also part of the gift is “the world’s largest sterling silver spoon,” once used for Gorham advertising. Cast in the Melrose pattern, it is nearly four feet in length with a bowl that holds a gallon of liquid."

Unfortunately, the 2,000 pieces of important Gorham silver aren't on display. But there is one small room in the museum's Pendleton House wing that showcases one mind-boggling silver item after another. And the museum also displays a silver desk ("Lady's writing table and chair") that won Gorham a grand prize at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.

Here's a description of the silver desk from the RISD website:

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"William Christmas Codman, designer; English, 1839-1921
Joseph Edward Straker, silversmith; English, active Providence, 1843-1912
Franz Ziegler, modeler and leather carver; German, 1869-1934
Potter and Company, cabinetmaker; American, active active, 1878-1910
Gorham Manufacturing Company, manufacturer
American, Providence, Rhode Island, 1831-present
Lady's writing table and chair, 1903
Ebony, mahogany, boxwood, redwood, thuya wood, ivory, mother-of-pearl, silver, mirrored glass, and gilded tooled leather; table: 50 x 50 x 28 in.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick B. Thurber
This masterpiece of inlay marquetry testifies to the technological sophistication and artistic abundance found at Victorian-era world expositions. Providence's Gorham Manufacturing Company and New York's Tiffany and Company vied for top honors in silver achievement at these events. At the cost of seventy-five pounds of silver, exotic woods, ivory, mother-of-pearl, and more than seven thousand man hours, Gorham won the grand prize for this lady's writing table at the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904. The cast floral ornament is reminiscent of eighteenth-century French rococo work, and Hispano-Moorish designs are apparent in its sinuous floral inlays. The fluid female forms of European Art Nouveau mark this desk as partially modern, but in form and proportion it remains true to traditional of American furniture."

It's signed with the Gorham anchor mark, "STERLING" and "C/C/X", and "WC Codman 1903"

You can see it here:

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