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Gorham Manufacturing Company

Ice Tongs

Maker

Gorham Manufacturing Company (American, 1831-present), manufacturer

Title

Ice Tongs
Furber Service

Year

1869

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

sterling silver

Geography

Place Made: Providence; Place Made: Rhode Island

Dimensions

29.3 x 8.7 x 5.8 cm (11 9/16 x 3 7/16 x 2 5/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Marked: [lion] [anchor] G / STERLING / 68.
Inscribed: EIF.

Marks: Gorham Mfg. Co., 68 (or 69)

Marks: Lion/anchor/G / STERLING / 68

Marks: 10

Credit / Object Number

Credit

The Gorham Collection. Gift of Textron Inc.

Object Number

1991.126.45.25

Type

Publications

Exhibition History

Gorham Silver
Designing Brilliance 1850-1970
May 03, 2019 – Dec 01, 2019
Making It In America
Oct 11, 2013 – Feb 09, 2014

Label copy

As explorers made tracks within and beyond the boundaries of the United States, artists followed, with new discoveries making their way into contemporary design. Silvery icebergs, polar bears, and caribou adorn this ice bowl, one of several versions made by the Gorham Manufacturing Company beginning in the 1870s. Its iconography relates not only to northern expeditions, but also reflects the expansion of America’s borders with the 1867 purchase of Alaska from Russia.

Back home, Bostonian Frederic Tudor, known as the Ice King, had perfected the process of harvesting New England ice and shipping it worldwide. This bowl, encircled with hanging icicles, accompanied by tongs formed as two rope-entwined harpoons, provided an impressive presentation.

Image use

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Gorham Manufacturing Company (American, 1831-present), manufacturer
Ice Tongs; Furber Service, 1869
Silver
29.3 x 8.7 x 5.8 cm (11 9/16 x 3 7/16 x 2 5/16 inches)
The Gorham Collection. Gift of Textron Inc. 1991.126.45.25

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