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Eliel Saarinen

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Author	Topic: Eliel Saarinen
June Martin Forum Master Posts: 1326 Registered: Apr 93	posted 10-14-2003 08:56 PM Does anyone have any examples of silver works by Eliel Saarinen (1873-1950) that they would be willing to share on this forum? While trolling the internet for what's happening in New York, I went to the website for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As the site comes up, they have a daily featured piece from their vast collections. Today's featured article was a fantastic electoplated nickle silver prototype tea service designed by Saarinen circa 1933-1935. Further research indicates that Saarinen, a Finnish architect, emigrated to the US in 1922 and pioneered the graduate program at Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He also designed for the International Silver Company and the Wilcox Silver Plate Company. The tea set is magnificent and it would be great to see some other examples of his work in silver. IP: Logged
kayvee unregistered	posted 10-16-2003 08:55 PM Hello June - Here is more information about E. Saarinen that I gleaned from A. Krekel-Aalberse, "Art Nouveau and Art Deco Silver," 1989, p. 121-124. Saarinen (1873-1950) came to the U.S. in 1923. He designed flatware for International Silver that was shown for the first time at the Metropolitan Museum in New York in 1929 at an exhibition entitled "The Architect and the Industrial Arts." The flatware is described, but not illustrated - I'd love to see a picture of it! Krekel-Aalberse pictures a silver coffee urn and tray designed in 1934 that is similar to the one in the picture you have posted. She states that it was "the most spectacular functional object to be made in the United States at that period". This object is in the collection at Cranbrook. Krekel-Aalberse describes the founding of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield, Michigan. In addition to his design work for International Silver, Saarinen designed one-off pieces for the studio of silversmith Arthur Nevill Kirk. Kirk's assistant, Margaret Biggar is quoted as saying "Mr. Saarinen was a marvelous architect, but he didn't know anything about silver." Saarinen also designed pieces executed by Charles Price at Cranbrook. Several of Saarinen's pieces from the Cranbrook collection are shown, including the above-mentioned coffee urn and tray, a standing fruit dish, and a cigarette box. IP: Logged
June Martin Forum Master Posts: 1326 Registered: Apr 93	posted 10-16-2003 09:14 PM Thanks, Kayvee for the additional information. I hope we are lucky enough to get some other photos posted of Saarinen's silver designs. Cranbrook sounds like it would be a fascinating destination for a Silver Salon Tour. IP: Logged
Dale Posts: 2132 Registered: Nov 2002	posted 10-24-2003 07:31 PM There was an article on Saarinen and his silver in the first year of Fortune magazine. I read the article many years ago, but do not have a copy. In flatware, Saarinen designed the long handled short bladed/ tined pieces that became the viande or grille style. These were picked up by both International and Oneida and made in plated lines for over 25 years. IP: Logged
June Martin Forum Master Posts: 1326 Registered: Apr 93	posted 10-24-2003 10:16 PM Thanks, Dale. I'll be on the lookout for the Fortune magazine article. I did see a drawing of one of Saarinen's jewelry designs today at a seminar I went to on Arts and Crafts jewelry. IP: Logged
Brent Posts: 1507 Registered: May 99	posted 10-25-2003 09:26 AM Bill Hood did an article in Antiques magazine (Feb 2003) about Grille/Viande style flatware. Saarinen's 4 prototype designs for the Met exhibition really kicked off the production of silver in this new style. Three of the four designs are illustrated in the article. Of the four, only one was produced commercially. This design was produced in sterling by Dominick & Haff /Reed & Barton under the name CONTEMPORA, and in silverplate as CANDIDE. Contempora is relatively hard to find, but certainly not impossible. I have a meat fork around here somehwere, and I'll post a picture when I find it. Bill's article is a really good read, if you can get a copy of the Feb 2003 issue. Brent IP: Logged
June Martin Forum Master Posts: 1326 Registered: Apr 93	posted 10-25-2003 09:56 PM Thanks, Brent, for reminding me about that article. It was a good one and I think I actually did a post about it somewhere in these forums. If only I could remember all that I have forgotten! IP: Logged
Patrick Vyvyan Posts: 640 Registered: May 2003	posted 10-26-2003 11:04 AM The British Museum, London, also have one of these coffee pots. quote: Eliel Saarinen, a tea or coffee urn Designed in Michigan, and produced by Wilcox Silver Plate Company, Meriden, Connecticut, United States of America, 1934 This tea or coffee urn is widely held to be the greatest example of American Modernist metalwork of the 1930s. Saarinen's urn was included in the industrial art exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1934, one of a series that aimed to form collaborations between artists and manufacturers. Saarinen (1873-1950) was one of a number of influential European emigrates who helped to disseminate progressive ideas in design. He had a distinguished early career as an architect in Finland and in Germany, moving to America in 1923. By 1932 he had been made President of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, for which this urn was designed. The European influence was strong at Cranbrook, whose organization owed much to the Bauhaus, with workshops for metal, textiles and ceramics. The urn was designed to be suitable for industrial production: the sphere is spun, the pierced gallery is stamped and the use of silver plate placed it within the economic reach of many. However, the urn was in fact made in very limited numbers. The American consumer possibly considered it to be too avant-garde, preferring their silverware to be of a more traditional form and design. The urn might have found more favour if it had been produced in chrome or aluminum, nonetheless it remains a classic of twentieth-century design. Height: 30 cm Diameter: 168 cm (base) Width: 274 cm (max.) M&ME 1999,7-8,1 Department of Medieval and Modern Europe (study collection) J. Rudoe, 'Architect-designed coffee urn', British Museum Magazine: the Journal of the British Museum Friends, 35 (Autumn/Winter 1999), p. 35 R.J. Clark and others, Design in America: the Cranbrook vision 1925-1950 (New York, 1983) A. Duncan, American Art Deco (London/New York, Abrams, 1986) C.L. Venable, Silver in America 1840-1940: a century of splendor (New York, Abrams, 1995), p. 283, ill. p. 290 The page also notes an article which I have not seen: J. Rudoe, 'Architect-designed coffee urn', British Museum Magazine: the Journal of the British Museum Friends, 35 (Autumn/Winter 1999), p. 35 IP: Logged
June Martin Forum Master Posts: 1326 Registered: Apr 93	posted 10-26-2003 12:37 PM What this coffee/tea service reminds me is that we shouldn't ignore silverplated goods. There were some fabulous designs done in this medium. As well, we shouldn't dismiss out of hand the silverplate manufacturers. Clearly Wilcox was in the forefront of design here. Thanks, Patrick, for putting us onto the urn in the British Museum. IP: Logged
Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 Registered: May 99	posted 04-12-2004 09:23 AM The flatware that Eliel Saarinen designed in 1928 for Dominick & Haff (later absorbed into Durgin, which was later absorbed into Gorham) was called "Contempora." The Newark Museum has a place setting of this (as does the Dallas Museum of Art). It is a rather subtle and handsome pattern; it only looks art deco if you know what you're looking for--very cleverly designed to suit the conservative taste of Americans. It has a sort of tri-part lobed design (think top of the Chrysler Building without the point) and has a nice-three-dimensional feel in the hand (I have one teaspoon at home, and it is nice to use). And yet, it was a commercial flop, apparently. I cannot find images in our computer for this flatware, but will see if we can locate some to send in. IP: Logged

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