How can you explain the allure of silver? Like its rich cousin, gold, silver is one of those rare earth elements that has served the imagination and creative hand of artisans over the ages- often with breathtakingly beautiful results. Silver in its purest form is soft and pliable, reflective and lustrous when polished to a high shine and filled with beautiful light-effects when cut, shaped, hammered or cast.

Over the ages, silversmiths have taken their inspiration largely from nature to create works of art with both utility and beauty. Most familiar are the elaborate coffee services, candelabras and jewelry fashioned in the style of 19th Century Romanticism. These pieces showcased the craftsman’s skill with elaborate floral scenes and design elements inspired by the classical Revivalist style of the Romans and Greeks. In America, the austere, but elegant creations of the colonial silver-making tradition, popularized by our most famous silversmith, Paul Revere, can be found in many well-to-do homes.fine arts magazine

But few are aware that silver design flourished well into the 20th Century, reflecting the new sensibility of an industrial age, where streamlined utilitarianism became the guiding principle of the newly-defined modern lifestyle. In the first quarter of the 1900s, many were ready to throw off the mantle of Victorian sensibilities and embrace the spirit of “The New”. Advances in science, manufacturing and inventions such as the airplane, the automobile and wireless communication were shrinking the world. Speed and radical reform became the watchwords of a new and outspoken group of intellectuals called, The Futurists.

The public fervor surrounding this new industrial age inspired many artisans to redefine traditional approaches to their craft. They increasingly sought inspiration in the changing world around them, rather than in the lessons of generations past. Notably, Cubism had emerged from the artists’ studios of Paris and the International Style of architecture (Bauhaus) was employing the fundamental lines of the square and the minimalist effects of glass in their building designs.

Silver makers, too, began to figure the clean lines of geometric shapes into their designs. Some of the most beautiful examples of this radical new objets d’art were being created in French studios. A handful of progressive designers, many coming from families with a long heritage of working in precious metals and jewels, set the stage for this revolution in form.

To learn more, I traveled to the lower west side of New York City to meet an expert on the topic of 20th century silver. Audrey Friedman has spent a lifetime collecting and learning about modern silver, glass and artifacts and her Primavera Gallery contains some of the most beautiful examples from that period.

She explained that the Paris exhibit of 1925, Exposition des Arts Decoratifs introduced the public to a new design movement, Art Moderne, later deriving the name Art Deco from this show. Here, artisans like Jean Puiforcat, Tétard Fréres and Maison Desny would exhibit their sterling and silver plate creations to the acclaim of some and the disdain of others. But there was no mistaking the reality that modern sensibilities were taking hold in a field that had been dominated by traditionalist views.

The event was originally scheduled to be held some years earlier, but was delayed because of World War I. “If the show had come off earlier, the silver of the time would have had a very different look,” according to Audrey. “The Deco ‘look’ was heavily influenced by the sleek and aerodynamic appearance of the machinery of the time and the technological advances made possible by industrial expansion. Ironically, the complexity and beauty of these early modernist designs meant that they could only have been turned out, one at a time, by the hand of the craftsman, himself.”

In the handful of years that followed, before the Great Depression of 1929 changed the face of the American economy, retailers attempted to promote the Art Deco style for use in the American home, but with little success. Audrey points out that resistance here was due to, “the American view that silver was something to be passed on by previous generations, hinting at inherited wealth; or at the very least, that classic silver could be purchased to become an ‘instant heirloom’.”

Nevertheless, a number of well-known European silver designers were rushed to New England factory studios and, by the following year, 1926, several American companies, including Gorham, International Silver, Reed and Barton and, to a lesser extent, Tiffany & Co. were embracing the cause of modernist design; although some would argue that their offerings were more heavily inspired by architecture than by a desire to capture pure form. In spite of these constraints, many of these New England manufacturers made timeless designs in the modern style right up until the eve of World War II.

To see some period pieces from the American school of Art Deco silver, I called on my friend and colleague, Bernard de Maillard, of Westport’s Léonce Antiques. As if by sleight-of-hand, he made several beautiful examples of mid-20th century silver magically appear from the back row of one of his many display cases.

He explained that the Art Deco movement allowed room for design influences from an earlier, more stylized period. Here, European moderne geometrics are supplanted by softer, more graceful lines inspired by nature. Taking their cue from the turn-of-the-century Swedish designer, Jorge Jensen, these silver pieces are designed to appeal to the eye using the same modernist’s techniques of form, balance and surface effects, but with a very different result. “Many of these companies are now history,” Bernard says, “leaving us with examples of the period that will never be replicated.”

With such a broad range of unique designs to choose from, consider including several examples of modern silver in your collection. But, I have to confess that, for pure geometric symmetry, quality of craftsmanship, luxury of detail and balance in the hand, these functional works of art beg to be used and enjoyed!

By Richard Friswell, Managing Editor

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DEFINITION OF TERMS

Understanding 20th Century design means differentiating between several design movements that may sound alike, but have different influences and objectives. There is some overlap as certain styles emerged from others:

Romanticism (1780-1880)- An artistic and intellectual movement in Western culture that rejected established values in favor of individualism and reason. The life and times of the ancient Greeks and Romans were idealized and impacted all phases of artistic design. Nature was extolled and its themes were idealized in painting, literature, functional art (silver, ceramics, furniture, architecture, etc.). It was in response to overblown sentimentality and flourishes of Romanticism and Victorianism that many of the late 19th century artists, writers and craftsmen rebelled.

Art Nouveau (1880-1914)- An international style of design, begun in Paris, using highly stylized, flowing and curvilinear designs incorporating floral and plant-like motifs to create repeating abstract and geometric patterns.

Arts and Craft – A British (1880- 1910) and American (1910-1925) aesthetic movement, founded in response to the increased use of industrialized methods, emphasizing the importance of hand crafting and natural inspiration; sometimes called the Craftsmen Style.

Modern (1880-1945)- A period or fervent social, cultural and political changes, defined by a shift in power and influence from Europe to the U.S. and reflected in a rejection of Victorian values for a more open social value system, artistic experimentation, innovations in manufacturing and scientific research and the realignment of the world political map by two global wars.

Art Deco (1920-1939)- A functional art movement that incorporated several influences [Cubism, Symbolism, Bauhaus Internationalism, industrial design and Modernism] into the design of everyday objects

Art Moderne (1920-1925)- The early name for geometric functional art design until the Paris show of 1925, Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, lent its shorthand title to the movement, Art Deco.