For nearly 160 years, the Gorham Manufacturing Company turned out a wide range of beautiful silver flatware, tea sets, serving bowls and other silver pieces, indelibly influencing the field of decorative arts in ways that still resonate.
When silversmiths Jabez Gorham and Henry Webster started making coin silver teaspoons and jewelry out of a small workshop in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1831, the pair likely had no idea that their modest operation would one day become the largest silver manufacturer in the world.
While some name changes and personnel shifts preceded the foundry officially being established as Gorham Manufacturing Company decades later, growth of the business between its early days and the mid–19th century can largely be attributed to the work of Jabez’s son John, who assumed control of Gorham in the 1840s.
John Gorham introduced steam power at the manufactory. He entered into a partnership with Michael Gibney, the first American silversmith to register a design patent for a flatware pattern. Gorham wanted to expand the business, seeking to produce forks and spoons adorned with decorative flourishes adapted from British patterns. The company hammered out the silver flatware, which it sent to Gibney in New York to apply decorative patterns before returning to Gorham. Consequently, Gorham found Gibney’s work unsatisfactory, and he purchased his own rolling press to do the work himself.
The partnership between John and Michael soured but the company thrived. Sales grew to more than $20,000 per year, and the staff of silversmiths expanded. To keep up with demand, Gorham had to retire its horse-powered rolling press and import a steam-powered drop press from England — the first used in the United States. Designs created at Gorham drew on natural-world motifs as well as artistic traditions from all over the world — alongside its tableware, the company would soon be producing cups and pitchers adorned with polar bears and forest creatures, while tea services and other serving pieces were crafted in a range of styles that included Art Nouveau, Egyptian Revival and Rococo.
Around 1860, Gorham delved into bronze casting. When it opened a division dedicated to bronze work, Gorham collaborated with sculptors such as Daniel Chester French, Anna Hyatt Huntington and Alexander P. Proctor.
By the 1920s, Gorham had employed thousands of workers and had partnered with Danish modernist silversmith Erik Magnussen. However, the Great Depression ground production to a halt. The company was sold to Textron, Inc. in the late 1960s and it changed hands several times before it sold to Department 56 in 2005.
Today, the work of Gorham Manufacturing Company continues to be exhibited in galleries and museums. The RISD Museum in Providence houses a collection of nearly 5,000 works.
On 1stDibs, find a range of antique Gorham Manufacturing Company serveware and decorative objects.
Art Nouveau - Style Sterling Silver Pedestal, Based Vase by Gorham
By Gorham Manufacturing Company
Located in New York, NY
Art Nouveau-Style, sterling silver, pedestal-based vase, Gorham Mfg. Company, Providence, Rhode Island, year-hallmarked for 1923. Hammered in design and chased with flowers. Measures...
Sterling Silver
$1,800
H 12.63 in Dm 3.5 in
Antique Art Nouveau Bailey Banks & Biddle Sterling Silver Tulip Flower Bud Vase
By Bailey, Banks & Biddle
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A fine antique sterling silver bud vase. In the form of a single tall tulip emerging from a monogrammed circular base. Retailed by B...
Sterling Silver
Art Nouveau Sterling Silver Flower Vase, Birmingham 1902 Henry Matthews
By Henry Matthews
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Antique Art Nouveau hammered Sterling Silver flower vase, Birmingham 1902 Henry Matthews. The vase on plain moulded pedestal base, rising to plain ...
Sterling Silver
$1,910
H 14.25 in Dm 5 in
American Silver Vase "Lotus" Pattern by Percy Bertram Ball for Watson Silver
By Watson Silver
Located in Montreal, QC
This fine American vase although from the 1930s is in the Art Nouveau taste but the Art Deco period. It compares favorably to the work of Georg Jensen. The Lotus form base is natural...
Sterling Silver
Art Nouveau Sterling Silver Flower Vase, William Hutton & Sons, c. 1903
By William Hutton & Sons
Located in Buenos Aires, Olivos
William Hutton & Sons. London, Birmingham & Sheffield. circa 1903. An exceptional Art Nouveau silver and vase by William Hutton dated 1...
Sterling Silver
$1,500
H 12.25 in Dm 3.25 in
Gorham Sterling Silver Vase in Art Nouveau Style with Dimensional Flowers
By Gorham
Located in New York, NY
Gorham sterling silver vase with red glass insert, beautifully crafted with dimensional floral and natural motifs in relief and in Art Nouveau style from the early 20th century. It m...
Silver, Sterling Silver
Victorian Sterling Silver Vase by Frederick Brasted, London 1888
By Frederick Brasted
Located in London, London
Hallmarked in London in 1888 by Frederick Brasted, this distinctive Victorian sterling silver vase is of a flared form on a circular foot. The body is decorated with high-relief chas...
Sterling Silver
$30,800Sale Price / item|20% Off
H 22 in Dm 7.25 in
Gorgeous Gorham Martelé Silver 22-Inch Centerpiece Vase, 1908
By Gorham Manufacturing Company
Located in New York, NY
Gorgeous Art Nouveau Martelé silver centerpiece vase. Made by Gorham in Providence in 1908. Tall and elongated baluster with turned-down mouth and domed foot; rims irregular and scro...
Silver
Large Antique 20" Tiffany & Co. Sterling Silver Trumpet Flower Vase
By Tiffany & Co.
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A fine antique large trumpet form silver flower vase. By Tiffany & Co. In sterling silver. Decorated throughout with intricate engraving and with a gold wash to both the footrim...
Sterling Silver
Brock & Company Tall Sterling Art Nouveau Flower Vase, California Poppy
By Brock & Company
Located in Phoenix, AZ
Brock & Company Sterling Art Nouveau vase - 17 ½ inches tall. Beautiful poppy flower design. Slender stem with attached tendrils. Marked: Brock & Company, Sterling, 7369, 17 ½ in. Beautiful vase in excellent condition. Measures: 17.5" H x 4.75" D. Brock & Company was a nationally-prominent jewelry firm, and it certainly was the most important jewelry and giftware store in Los Angeles. It was considered to be the jewelry store of the stars and was shopped by many notable Los Angeles actors of the day including Mary Pickford and others. It's jewelry workshop was housed in the top floor of the building on West Seventh Street. Brock & Co. was founded by George A. Brock in 1903. George C. Brock, George A.'s son, took charge of the company, and it continued to grow and thrive. A second store was opened on Wilshire Boulevard, in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. Tiffany and Co. even approached Brock's to do a merger to become Tiffany-Brock & Co. That merger did not take place, and Angelenos continued to buy their jewelry, watches, silver, fine china, and crystal at Brock & Co. Brock retired in 1964 and the building and inventory were sold. This vase had a note attached upon purchase that attributed it to Clemens Friedell...
Silver
