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Lot Essay
This dinner service forms part of a distinguished group of silver designed by Gorham in the 1870s and 1880s. Typified by an overall restraint in design, these pieces feature plain surfaces adorned with classical friezes and a preference for square and rectangular forms. They illustrate the enduring popularity of classical design and are in stark contrast to the highly decorated pieces produced by Gorham during this period.
A number of pieces of this design were manufactured for the extraordinary "Furber Service," ordered by Colonel Henry Furber in the 1870s. When completed, the hollowware and flatware service numbered over 740 pieces. A centerpiece, exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, is illustrated in Charles Venable's Silver in America, p. 158, and a pair of three-foot high candelabra produced in 1879, is illustrated in Charles Carpenter's Gorham Silver, rev. ed. 1997, p. 61.
Carpenter illustrates other pieces of this design dating to the same year as this lot (Gorham Silver, op. cit. 1997, p. 68). These include a grand centerpiece, and pair of covered entre dishes, which match the present example. A punch bowl of this design sold at Sotheby's New York, June 15, 1998, lot 1587.
A number of pieces of this design were manufactured for the extraordinary "Furber Service," ordered by Colonel Henry Furber in the 1870s. When completed, the hollowware and flatware service numbered over 740 pieces. A centerpiece, exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, is illustrated in Charles Venable's Silver in America, p. 158, and a pair of three-foot high candelabra produced in 1879, is illustrated in Charles Carpenter's Gorham Silver, rev. ed. 1997, p. 61.
Carpenter illustrates other pieces of this design dating to the same year as this lot (Gorham Silver, op. cit. 1997, p. 68). These include a grand centerpiece, and pair of covered entre dishes, which match the present example. A punch bowl of this design sold at Sotheby's New York, June 15, 1998, lot 1587.