Porter Blanchard Sterling Silver Double-Serving Dish, Burbank, CA, 1923-33

This stunning and unusual sterling silver double-server is a rare form in a very modern and useful design. The oval bowls have an applied, hammered banding around their edges. Two large discs connect the bowls and support the dramatic handle. A curved arc underneath is also used to join and support the dishes. The exterior of the bowls exhibits beautiful hammering, as does the outer surface of the handle. This rare server is a large and striking example of arts & crafts silver.

Porter Blanchard learned his trade from his father, George Porter Blanchard (who worked for Arthur Stone from 1906-09) in Gardner, Mass. He was a Member of the Society of Arts & Crafts, Boston, where he was a member Craftsman 1913-16, Master Craftsman from 1917, (1), and awarded their highest honor, the designation of "Medalist" in 1944. (2)

In 1923, Porter Blanchard moved to Burbank, California, and was joined in 1925 by his brother and father. He became one of Southern California's leading silversmiths and the "Silversmith to the Stars." One of his best clients was the reclusive Joan Crawford, whom he never met. She always ordered by phone. (3)

This beautiful sterling silver serving dish is marked underneath 'PORTER BLANCHARD/ STERLING.' It measures 13 inches long across the two dishes by 9.75 inches wide by just over 7 inches to the top of the handle. It weighs an impressive 31.85 troy ounces and is in excellent antique condition.

ARK Antiques, 1995

Private Collection

Literature:

The Arts & Antiques Weekly, ARK Antiques Ad, March 3, 1995.

Endnote:

1. Karen Ulehla, The Society of Arts & Crafts, Boston Exhibition Record, 1897-1927, (Boston: Boston Public Library, 1981), p. 31
2. Leslie Greene Bowman, "Arts and Crafts Silversmiths: Friedell and Blanchard in Southern California" in Silver in the Golden State, (Oakland: The History Department of the Oakland Museum, 1986), p. 48.
3. Bowman, p. 55.