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Lot Essay
Erik Magnussen was a well-established Danish designer when he was hired by Gorham in 1925 to create silver in a modern style. Magnussen's work in the 1920s combined traditional motifs and modern design, as with this pair of candlesticks which updates the neoclassical columnar form in a modern fashion. For decoration, Magnussen incorporated incised radial lines, a decorative technique he shared with Puiforcat. Magnussen's association with Gorham was an unhappy one; he left in 1929 and began working with the German firm Dingeldein. In the 1930s Magnussen had a workshop in Chicago, worked in Los Angeles and was employed by the International Silver Company. He returned to his native Denmark in 1939. (See Scott Braznell, "Advent of Modern American Silver," The Magazine Antiques, January 1984, pp. 236-37).
This model is illustrated in Jewel Stern, Modernism in American Silver: 20th-Century Design, 2005, p. 30-31.
Examples were sold Christie's, New York, 15-16 January 2004, lot 33, and Sotheby's, New York, 10 March 2004, lot 84.
This model is illustrated in Jewel Stern, Modernism in American Silver: 20th-Century Design, 2005, p. 30-31.
Examples were sold Christie's, New York, 15-16 January 2004, lot 33, and Sotheby's, New York, 10 March 2004, lot 84.