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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 A Curator's Viewpoint
 Gorham candelabra 987
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| Author | Topic: Gorham candelabra 987 |
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tjg Posts: 15 |
posted 04-03-2002 03:21 PM
  
I have two Gorham cancelabra sets. I believe they were a wedding gift to my mother in 1953. I refer to them as a "set" because each candelabra can be broken down into various sizes: - single short candle holder - single tall candle holder - candelabra for 3 candles - candelabra for 5 candles Each candelabra consists of 5 pieces. The base for each candelabra has the following stamp: Gorham Sterling cement reinforced 987 The top units for the candelabra are stamped: Sterling. cement reinforced with rod, M. Any information would be appreciated! THANKS IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 04-03-2002 03:26 PM
What information do you want to have? They were probably made right at the time they were given to your mother--and a nice wedding gift indeed. It is very clever the way Gorham produced these multiple use pieces--hoping to recapture a dwindling market for sterling tablewares by creating objects that could be trendy and new (the short candleholders) and old-fashioned and fancy (the five-branched versions). I don't know if I've ever seen one of these multi-form candleholders. Are they old-fashioned in style, or modernistic? Gorham was in Providence, RI, and what's left of them is owned by Lenox China now, which is a subdivision of Brown-Forman Industries. Their silver factory was the largest one in the world built to make silver, and it has all been torn down within the past few years. Once upon a time Gorham made more silver than all of England. IP: Logged |
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June Martin Forum Master Posts: 1326 |
posted 04-03-2002 03:39 PM
As Ulysses points out, in the 1950's silver manufacturers were trying anything to create demand in a dwindling market. One of the gimmicks was multi-purpose or multi-dimensional items like the candlesticks you describe. The design trends of the 1950's was one of the topics covered at the recent NYU Silver Conference and summarized in the following post: http://www.smpub.com/ubb/Forum17/HTML/000141.html IP: Logged |
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tjg Posts: 15 |
posted 04-03-2002 03:43 PM
I was trying to identify the pattern, if possible. I had never seen a set like this myself so was curious. I would say they are fairly old fashioned. The base has several pairs of flowers with leaves between. They are in good shape with little tarnishing - mostly around the flowers on the base. I use them mostly in the tall candle format. When you convert to the 3-candle candelabra format, the three-unit candelabra branch screws into the spot where you would put a single candle. When you add the top unit for 5 candles, though, it seems kind of wobbly as there are no threads for it to screw together. Almost seems as if the 5-candle version wasn't really supposed to be that way but I know that this was the way my Mom received them and I also assumed they were new in 1953. Also, in this 5-candle format, two candles would be lower on the unit then the top 3 candles. This seems curious to me! Also, what is the significance of the ‘987’ and the ‘M’? Thanks! IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 04-03-2002 03:48 PM
I don't think the 987 is anything more than a shape number for the factory--and hence not very useful, unless you were to find it in a retail catalogue. It is likely that there was no "pattern," as you had with flatware--unless the candelabra were made to coordinate with a flatware pattern. I don't know what the M meant--is there any other mark--like a pentagon with a number in it? This was the dating system in the 1950s... IP: Logged |
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tjg Posts: 15 |
posted 04-03-2002 03:56 PM
Thank you so much for your response. That presentation would have been fasinating. My Mom decided it was time to give away most of her silver and I took most of it including these candelabras. (I'm still kicking myself for not taking the mint julep glasses that my sister-in-law now has.) I noticed that the stacking candelabras were mentioned in the summary of the presentation! If silver was dying out in popularity at that time it was certainly hard to tell by the wedding gifts my mom received! However, she was from a small southern town where silver was used daily even when I was a small child. I still remember my Grandmother using her Wallace Rosepoint flatware every day when I visited her. IP: Logged |
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tjg Posts: 15 |
posted 04-03-2002 04:02 PM
I double checked and there are no other markings on any of the various parts. Thanks so much for your response. I've already learned a lot!! IP: Logged |
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