MARK OF GORHAM MFG. CO., PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, 1881

The present pitcher closely relates to an 1880 Gorham punch bowl in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1980.383-4); both of which are exuberantly chased with dragons in thrashing seas. Although Tiffany & Co. is largely credited with popularizing Japanese-inspired designs in American silver, having won the grand prix at the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle for their work in mixed-metal, Gorham had introduced Japanese themes into their product lines nearly a decade earlier. The firm’s first experimentations with Japanesque designs primarily consisted in the reproduction of wood block prints and Asian motifs into engraved decoration. Gorham’s designs soon evolved into more vigorous and voluminous expressions evocative of movement, momentum and nature. An 1883 soup tureen and cover in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago (2016.48) features similar cresting waves and swirling tides (see ed. Elizabeth McGoey, American Silver in the Art Institute of Chicago, 2016, pp. 161-63). A more restrained and later marine-themed pitcher (circa 1890) with a dragon handle was sold Sotheby’s, 24 May 2007, lot 48.