Gorham Sterling "Exotic" Tea and Coffee Set in Original Presentation Chest 1880

GORHAM MFG. CO SILVERSMITHS   Providence, RI

“Exotic” tea and coffee set in original Gorham presentation chest   1880

Sterling silver 5-piece service with “butler” finish, bright-cut chasing and repoussé surface in the Far Eastern exotic style with elephant trunk spouts and handle forms, tent-like splayed lids, interior gilding, engraved conjoined initials, bone spacers in the original deep teal velvet-covered presentation chest with hot pink silk- satin interior

Marks:  Gorham marks, STERLING, 1560, “M” (date mark for 1880)
Lid of case interior stamped in gold:  Gorham Mfg. Co., Sterling Silver, Union Square, NY

Coffeepot: H: 5 3/4” handle-to-spout: 9 1/4” (length);
teapot: H: 4”;
sugar w/ lid: H: 4”;
waste bowl: H: 2 1/2”;
cream: H:  2 3/4”;
chest:  H: 7” x W: 21” x D: 15”

For related pieces and further information see:  Gorham Silver 1831-1981, Charles H. Carpenter, Jr., Chapter 6, “Innovation and Fantasy”, p. 94-121 (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1982); In Pursuit of Beauty: Americans and the Aesthetic Movement, Chapter 8,“Metalwork: An Eclectic Aesthetic” by David Hanks, p.253-294 (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Rizzoli, 1987); Silver in America, 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor, Charles L. Venable, Chapter 6, “Consumption and Design” p.123-204, (New York: Dallas Museum of Art, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1995).