posted 05-23-2012 03:48 PM            

"Stories in Sterling: Four Centuries of Silver in New York, highlights the histories of 150 notable examples of silver from the New-York Historical Society's collection. Made across the span of four centuries, the objects in the exhibition tell a diversity of stories: many speak to individual accomplishment and family pride, while a few have unsettling ties or backgrounds. The silver, ranging from simple spoons to extravagant trophies, culled from a trove of over 3,000 objects, includes powerful eyewitness artifacts linked to significant moments in the history of New York and the United States...."

posted 05-28-2012 08:29 PM            

It's a must see for anyone interested in silver or New York. It's a big, well-organized exhibit full of wonderful things with great histories. For example: A pompous, over-the-top loving cup given to Boss Tweed by a host of grateful Tammany Hall grafters, encrusted with chased medallion portraits of the corrupt donors. Canns and tankards galore given to and from Stuyvesants, Van Rensselaers, Livingstones, etc. Exuberant teapots celebrating naval victories. A spoon made in a workshop where the owner advertised for a runaway slave silversmith. A hot-air-balloon-shaped aeronautical trophy (Black, Starr & Frost). One of those pre-Aesthetic naturalistic pieces Richard likes, this one a Wood & Hughes pitcher with water lilies on it from 1855, looking very 1880.

posted 05-29-2012 11:45 PM            

David Barquist is the Curator of American Decorative Arts at The Philadelphia Museum of Art and I wish he or someone else would write a similar book about Philadelphia silver.

Ms. Bach was the curator of an earlier exhibition entitled “The Grateful Dead: Now Playing at the New York Historical Society” in 2010. She obviously can do it all.

At one of the Grateful Dead’s concerts their “Farm” set up in a farmer’s field a couple of blocks from where I lived in St. Louis. The promoters let the neighborhood residents in free and we had great fun talking with all the visitors. My wife was interviewed for a local TV show and we were surprised how many people called us and asked where the “Farm” was located.