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J4201
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This small, covered bowl is a rare and exceptional early example of art deco design by one of the most famous American designers of the style. The use of plain surfaces and sections with scored lines gives the piece a stylish design. Radiating up the body are sections of 3 scored lines spaced precisely to form repeating 2-to-1 narrower and larger panels. The 2-section, pedestal base continues the use of these scored lines, and a stepped, horizontal ring design separates the sections and complements the rims of the bowl and cover.
The cover has a brilliant design. Four loop handles have a modernistic ball and scroll design. During this period, various silversmiths used such designs to symbolize flower seeds. As with its bowl, the cover is scored with the same line design that disappears into the body at the top of the dome.
When inverted, the cover rests on its feet and becomes a second bowl.
Radiating scored lines, geometric shapes, and naturalistic decoration became the hallmark of Magnussen's designs at Gorham. After the 1925 Paris 'Art Deco' exhibition, Gorham sought to develop a line of silver in the 'moderne' style popular in Europe, and they found an accomplished Danish silversmith, Erik Magnussen, to do so. He was given his own workforce and great leeway in designing objects.
His aesthetically forward-looking pieces never sold well, as the American public mainly wanted more conservative colonial-style silver. Very few of these pieces were ever made, and no one knows how many were ultimately melted by Gorham. Consequently, these examples of American art deco silver are very rare and highly sought after today.
Gorham's records indicate that only 2 of these covered bowls were ever made. (1)
This rare sterling silver double bowl centerpiece is marked underneath Gorham's trademark and 'GORHAM/ STERLING/ G/YP' and the sailboat date mark for 1926. It measures just shy of 4.5 inches in diameter by 5 inches high, weighs 7.75 troy ounces, and is in excellent antique condition.
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