Guttierez Vega / South American Art Deco Sterling Modernist Coffee / Tea Set c. 1935
GUTTIEREZ VEGA (active 1930s) Bogotá, Columbia
Four-piece modernist coffee / tea set c. 1935
Radical form cone and triangular shaped four piece sterling silver with bold design exotic handles.
Marks: T.A.N. Sterling (Maker’s mark), serial number F925
Coffee pot H: 5″ x L: 10 1/2″
Teapot H: 4 3/8″ x L: 10 1/2″
Creamer H: 3″ x L: 8″
Sugar bowl H: 4 1/2″ x L: 7 3/4″
In the 1930s, Colombia began to embrace modern and Art Deco architecture. The new Liberal Party government tore down many older buildings to reject the conservative past. In their place, it constructed modern buildings with an international flavor and interiors and decorative arts were designed to complement these newly stylized buildings.
Signed: B. SPADE, DECORATEUR, PARIS (metal plaque)
H: 17 5/8″ x W: 31 5/8″ x D: 18″
After WWI, Marseilles-native Batistin Spade started a workshop for cabinetry and textile design. During the years between the wars he gained recognition for his refined and sumptuous furniture and interiors. The designer worked on some 30 ocean liners, including the Île de France (1926) and the Normandie (1935). In the early 40s, Mobilier National chose Spade to create office interiors for numerous ambassadors and government officials.
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
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).
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