.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Washington Augustus Roebling (1837-1926) was the civil engineer responsible for building the Brooklyn Bridge, a project that was begun by his father, John A. Roebling. W.A. Roebling was trained at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York and began his career building bridges with his father, such as the Allegheny Bridge project and the Cincinnati-Covington Bridge. In 1869, Roebling was named chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge project after the death of his father, who had succumbed to an injury related to work on the bridge. When Roebling's own health was compromised by the project (he was afflicted with "the bends" or decompression sickness), his wife, Emily Warner Roebling, took over the day-to-day supervision of the project. The bridge, which took 13 years to complete, opened to great fanfare in 1883 and was deemed the 8th Wonder of the World.
Roebling's long and successful career included the reprisal of his role as president of John A. Roebling's Sons at the age of 80. The firm was the largest worldwide supplier of wire - furnishing telegraph and electrical wire, and bridge cable, and was the exclusive supplier to the Panama Canal.
This massive tray relates to the extensive Gorham silver-gilt dinner service weighing 4,863 oz. sold Christie's, New York, 30 June 2015, lot 150. The silver-gilt service was a special order and based on the violet pattern, which was delivered on 1 August 1889. Similar to the present lot, a large number of the pieces in the gilt dinner service were of of rectangular form and many engraved 1865-Roebling-1990. Additional pieces were added, circa 1960, and were likely ordered by Mary G. Roebling, granddaughter-in-law of W.A. Roebling and mother of Paul Roebling, the last Roebling descendant to own the dinner service. Her trail-blazing career in finance included roles as the first woman to lead a major American bank, when she was named President of Trenton Trust Company in 1937. Mary G. Roebling was also the first female governor of the American Stock Exchange and Chairman of National State Bank. She advocated passionately for equal rights for women and their place in the world of business. As Forbes Magazine noted: "Mary G. Roebling didn't wait for women's lib, she was ahead of it, way ahead."
Roebling's long and successful career included the reprisal of his role as president of John A. Roebling's Sons at the age of 80. The firm was the largest worldwide supplier of wire - furnishing telegraph and electrical wire, and bridge cable, and was the exclusive supplier to the Panama Canal.
This massive tray relates to the extensive Gorham silver-gilt dinner service weighing 4,863 oz. sold Christie's, New York, 30 June 2015, lot 150. The silver-gilt service was a special order and based on the violet pattern, which was delivered on 1 August 1889. Similar to the present lot, a large number of the pieces in the gilt dinner service were of of rectangular form and many engraved 1865-Roebling-1990. Additional pieces were added, circa 1960, and were likely ordered by Mary G. Roebling, granddaughter-in-law of W.A. Roebling and mother of Paul Roebling, the last Roebling descendant to own the dinner service. Her trail-blazing career in finance included roles as the first woman to lead a major American bank, when she was named President of Trenton Trust Company in 1937. Mary G. Roebling was also the first female governor of the American Stock Exchange and Chairman of National State Bank. She advocated passionately for equal rights for women and their place in the world of business. As Forbes Magazine noted: "Mary G. Roebling didn't wait for women's lib, she was ahead of it, way ahead."
