Exotic

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).