MARK OF WILLIAM WALDO DODGE, ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, 1935

William Waldo Dodge (1895-1971) began his career as a silversmith while recuperating from injuries in the First World War, at the Oteen Military Hospital near Asheville, North Carolina. In 1924 he opened a silversmithing shop near the Grove Park Inn. Dodge's shop prospered in the 1920s and 1930s but was virtually closed during the Second World War due to shortages of raw materials and manpower. An adherent of the Arts and Crafts aesthetic, he is known for his work in a variety of hand-hammered techniques and an affinity for the dogwood flower, the state flower of North Carolina. (see: "William Waldo Dodge: The Asheville Craftsman," Silver Magazine, July-August 1994, pp. 32-33.) A retrospective of Dodge's work will be held in 2003 at the Asheville Art Museum, North Carolina.