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Gorham Manufacturing Company

Water Pitcher

Maker

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

Title

Water Pitcher
Furber Service

Year

1878

Medium

  • Silver with gilding

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Silver with gilding

Materials

gilding, silver

Geography

Place Made: Providence; Place Made: Rhode Island

Dimensions

16 x 18 x 10.7 cm (6 5/16 x 7 1/16 x 4 3/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Marks: Marked: [lion] [anchor] G / STERLING / 936 / K

Credit / Object Number

Credit

The Gorham Collection. Gift of Textron Inc.

Object Number

1991.126.48

Type

  • Metalwork

Publications

  • Books

Gorham Silver. Selections from the Gift of Textron Inc.

  • Books

Gorham Silver Designing Brilliance 1850-1970

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

After Commodore Perry of the U.S. Navy pressed Japan to open trade with the West in 1854, a flood of Japanese decorative arts reached American shores. A mania for Japanese design followed, and in the 1870s and 1880s played a significant role in the development of the American Aesthetic movement. The simplicity, exoticism, and naturalism found in Japanese design were considered particularly avant-garde and innovative in 19th-century America.

The exterior decorations of the pitcher and cups cleverly refer to its contents, depicting a watery lower half which is swimming with fish and turtles while the sky above is populated with butterflies and dragonflies.

After Eden
The Rise and Reform of American Art, 1840-1910
Apr 26, 1996 – Dec 29, 1996

Related Objects

No Image Available

Gorham Manufacturing Company

Pair of Cups

Gorham Manufacturing Company

Tray

More objects +

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

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
Water Pitcher; Furber Service, 1878
Silver with gilding
16 x 18 x 10.7 cm (6 5/16 x 7 1/16 x 4 3/16 inches)
The Gorham Collection. Gift of Textron Inc. 1991.126.48

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Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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