MARK OF GORHAM MFG. CO., PROVIDENCE, 1886-1888

Details

A SILVER FIVE-PIECE TEA SERVICE**
MARK OF GORHAM MFG. CO., PROVIDENCE, 1886-1888
Comprising a kettle-on-stand, teapot, covered sugar bowl, waste bowl and cream jug, each in the Persian pattern, each circular on tapering circular base, the body chased overall with foliage, swags and decorated scrolls, the conforming handle with ivory insulators, the hinged domed covers with similar decoration and bud finial, engraved S. J. Sorg under bases, the kettle engraved Soog on handle, marked on bases, also marked with code for 1886, and stamped 2000, the kettle burner stamped sterling
The kettle-on-stand 13½ in. high; 143 oz. 10 dwt. gross weight (5)

Provenance

Christie's, New York, 19 June 1996, lot 53

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Lot Essay

The present tea service was designed for the Paris Exposition of 1889 and is illustrated in Gorham's bilingual catalogue, described as "Oriental East Indian Tea Service." The 1889 catalogue page is illustrated in Katherine Morrison McClinton, Collecting American 19th Century Silver, 1968, illus. p. 81.

There were two versions of this tea service, both completed by Gorham in 1888. Samuel Hough believed that the present service was the more elaborate of the two, having required an astonishing 701 hours of hand chasing.

See lots 6 and 39, a pair of oversized candelabra and a Columbian Exposition claret jug, that also formed part of the Lenox-Gorham archive.

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