posted 03-18-2002 03:29 PM            

Cleveland Collects: Defining Modernities in Silver and Other Metals
presented by: Henry Hawley, Curator - The Cleveland Museum of Art

Mr. Hawley provided wonderful insight into various objects acquired by the museum, how, when and why they came to be acquired. He has an especially relevant view on the subject as he has been with the museum since 1960. Mr. Hawley explained that when first asked to give this lecture, he was doubtful that there was enough information to take up his allotted time slot. He was successful in more than filling his time slot with a myriad of interesting pieces, although some were outside of the scope of silver as well as the modernism theme. One of my favorite pieces fell outside this scope and I am very glad that Mr. Hawley chose to include it. It was a gold leafed table with a tea set with horn handles. The bodies of the pieces were animal shapes referred to as "beasts" by the maker. Unfortunately, my notes neglect to include the maker. I will try to resurface the information and perhaps an image from Mr. Hawley.

It was Mr. Hawley who provided the first of many glimpses we would have of the Fred Miller dish with the ebony feet making the piece look like it was about to walk away. Unlike in the fabulous Catalog of American Silver in the Cleveland Museum of Art, slides showing makers' marks were not incorporated into the presentations by either Mr. Hawley or any of his fellow presenters. This I found quite disappointing especially because the marks of modernist artists are not widely known. Mr. Hawley's presentation included an informative background of the Potter Studio of Cleveland with some beautiful examples of the work. There were some wonderful surprises like an elaborate chalice marked Theodore B. Starr and most probably manufactured by Gorham as well as a bowl made by Mary Catherine Knight and retailed by Tiffany & Co.