Introduction
Gorham Silver
When Jabez Gorham founded a small workshop a few blocks from here in 1831, handcrafted silver spoons were a principal product of his business. When the RISD Museum acquired a Gorham spoon in 1909, it marked the beginning of a collection of works by the Gorham Manufacturing Company that today comprises nearly 5,000 objects and design drawings. This exhibition—assembled from the museum’s collection with important loans from other institutions and private collections—illuminates the heights of Gorham’s industry, ambition, artistry, technology, and innovation.
The Gorham Manufacturing Company was an inimitable force in the city of Providence and around the globe, boldly growing into the largest silver company in the world. Gorham created some of the most exceptional works ever made in silver, forever changing the landscape of American decorative arts. The company also profoundly changed Rhode Island by training and employing generations of highly skilled workers and, like many local industries, leaving behind a complicated legacy. Visit the Gorham Workbench in this gallery and access the Soundwalk tour (information at right) to learn about the company’s impact on the community, labor practices, and the environment. Accompanied by a major publication (Rizzoli)
with stunning new imagery and recent research, the exhibition will travel to the Cincinnati Art Museum and The Mint Museum.
Spanning 120 years, the objects on view here testify to the undiminished brilliance of Gorham’s workers as they collaboratively translated ideas into gleaming new realities, the restless innovation of the company’s leaders, and a dazzling array of aesthetic styles.
Elizabeth A. Williams
David and Peggy Rockefeller Curator of Decorative Arts and Design
RISD Museum
