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Everybody

How the Cost of Sterling Silverware

to the Public is being Reduced

BY NEWTON A. FUESSLE

P

LAIN people no longer eat unquestioningly from their pewter, while the glisten of Sterling silverware is reserved exclusively for kings, and cardinals, and noble dignitaries. But it has taken centuries for Sterling silver and the spirit of democracy to get together.

Happily, to be born with a silver spoon in one's mouth no longer denotes mansions and millions. Low ceilings no longer presuppose a line of shoddy tastes. There has been a renaissance in this country of an appreciation of the genuine; counterfeits no longer really satisfy; and the demand is again for lasting possessions of valid worth.

Of this idea of enduring worth, Sterling silver has always been a distinguished symbol. Vessels of silver figured conspicuously at the feasts of ancient Egypt, and contributed to the widely advertised glory that was King Solomon's. Alchemists have spent themselves in the vain endeavor to transform baser metals into silver, which they poetically named "Luna" or "Diana." Royalty of all time has showered its favorites with gifts of silver, while craftsmanship of the highest order strove to fashion the precious metal into objects of usefulness and beauty.

Cellini, when asked to set a price upon his unequaled statue in silver, scornfully uttered the following historic

reply: "Your Excellency can find multitudes of men who are able to build you cities and palaces, but you will not, perhaps, find one man in the world who can make another 'Perseus.'"

Along with gold, silver is the most malleable and ductile of all metals; a single gramme of it can be drawn into a wire more than 180 yards in length, and the leaf can be beaten out to an amazing thinness of 0.00022 millimeters. Its enduring substance is not oxidized by the air. Its unchanging character has allied it inseparably with coinage, ornamentation, and jewelry.

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THE SILVERSMITHS OF AMERICA

From the earliest Colonial days, the art of the silversmith and the goldsmith in America has marched steadily forward. Two goldsmiths sailed with Captain Newport to Jamestown as early as 1607.

Among the noted Colonial silversmiths of the 1700's were the Burts, Jacob Hurd, and the Reveres, of whom Paul Revere, of Lexington and Concord fame, was one. These worked largely on church utensils, chalices, patens, beakers, and basins, meager in decoration as became the stern Puritanic point of view. The florid Early Georgian tendencies were rejected, but the influence of the Adam brothers was gradually accepted, so that American silver of

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"Throughout the country, jewelers are reviving in their communities a new appreciation of the singular merits of Sterling silver"

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"The one who purchases an article of Sterling silver engages in a transaction not for himself alone, but for generation after generation of his descendants"

late Colonial and Revolutionary days presently became strongly allied with the contemporary styles of England, as inherited and modified from the days of the Louis in France.

Thus the art of the silversmith in America, while faithfully expressing the temper of the people, has reflected from the beginning the best practice of its Old World masters, and has pursued a notably cultured course from the first.

For almost the last hundred years the progress of The Gorham Company has represented a cross-section of the history of Sterling silver in America. The ancient romance that enriches the craft has been reverently preserved by the designers and artisans who labor over Gorham wares, which have always had the eloquence of sincere craftsmanship.

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This Gorham fork shows the ornate and decorative treatment of the Louis XV period of French history

MULTITUDE OF ACTIVITIES

Valued and enduring contacts have been established with every phase of refined American life. The chests of silver bearing the Gorham stamp have delighted innumerable brides. Its magnificent punch-bowls have graced many historic social occasions, and its trophies have been fought for on America's leading golf courses, tennis courts, tracks, fields, and at sea by famous yachts. Innumerable roasts have been carved on Gorham platters by Gorham knives. The company's toilet sets of gold and silver preside over the dressing-tables of many of the fashionables. The leading jeweler of Marion, Ohio, came to Gorham to design and make the silver plaque which the people of Marion presented to Warren G. Harding on the eve of his departure for Washington to assume the Presidency of the United States.

The statuary, memorial tablets, mosaics, and ecclesiastical art of this manufacturer are world-famous. The

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The Paris pattern in which Gorham art has embodied the rich taste of the reign of Louis XVI

many activities would amaze the silversmiths of old London who crowded Cheapside with their shops and designed and wrought luxurious plate for their noble patrons.

It would take many columns merely to enumerate the honored names of celebrated wares which the Gorham Interests have made possible in the homes of American gentlefolk. Whether an article reflects the rich ornamentation of the mannered day of Louis XIV or the restrained simplicity of the Colonial influence, the result always discloses artistic sincerity and unquestionable authority.

This intimate contact with American life does not end with the home nor with the resplendent dining-rooms of the leading hotels. Many of our great cathedrals have gone to Gorham for the design and execution of their stainedglass memorial windows, marble fonts, altars, reredos, jeweled altar crosses, and communion services (for example,

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Lady Chapel of St. Paul's, in Brooklyn, the miniature of which is on exhibition in the company's Fifth Avenue store), for these ateliers reflect the most accomplished practice in ecclesiastical art.

The Gorham Company has cast many of the most famous statues in New York, Washington, and Chicago, for many eminent sculptors come to Gorham for their casting. The sales galleries contain some of the most celebrated examples of sculpture to be found in this country, and the company has long been known as a wise and sympathetic patron of sculptors. The advice and criticism of the head of this department are often sought by artists; he has "edited" and undertaken the casting of some of the notable achievements in the plastic arts.

"The Leaf," a bronze statuette, 27 inches in height, modeled by Harriet Frishmuth, a pupil of Rodin, is in strong demand at the Gorham ateliers

THE NEW CORDIALITY

You cannot have failed in the past to notice the forbidding dignity of establishments that sold Sterling silverware. This condition was almost universal, and The Gorham Company considered it a serious merchandising mistake. Its officials decided that a new cordiality was desirable on the part of dealers toward the public, and have been acting systematically upon that belief, with the result that the whole trade is being touched and uplifted by the infusion of

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This heavy, ornate Florentine spoon pattern, reflecting the influence of the Italian Renaissance, is considered a masterpiece by all silversmiths

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The simple beauty of this Gorham set appropriately takes its name from one of

the oldest Colonial cities-Portsmouth

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introducing a new atmosphere among Sterling silver circles.

It took a revolution to free the American colonies from the monarchical grip; and it is likewise requiring a revolution to release the Sterling silver trade from its aristocratic traditions. But this latter revolution is a friendly one, and dealers are gladly co-operating and are reviving in their communities a new appreciation of the singular merits of Sterling silver.

There is much to be said in favor of mass-production, and imitations are not without their justification; but surpassing compensations invariably attend one's possession of that which is genuine. The loud lauding of plated ware has created a public tolerance of articles of intrinsic inferiority, but the reassurance of the mark "Sterling" on an article of silver is incomparable. The one who purchases an article of Sterling silver engages in a transaction not for himself alone, but for generation after generation of his descendants. This message the dealers are conveying to their communities in cordial terms, and the response is unfailing.

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AN EMBODIMENT OF ART

"Silverware is not mere merchandise," says The Gorham Company to its dealers. "While it is a utility, it is also an embodiment of art. A love of the artistic is a necessary preliminary to a desire to possess fine silverware. A jeweler or jeweler's salesman who is indifferent to this appeal of art as embodied in the product of the silversmith will not prove a material factor in stimulating the sale of silverware. And even if he is alive to artistic appeal, he is not fitted to sell silverware with any large measure of success unless he is also informed on the subject.

"Salesmanship is daily becoming more

Loving-cup and cover, 37 inches in height, of modern Roman design. Gorham trophies have been fought for on the world's leading athletic fields and by famous yachts at sea

A bronze tiger, modeled by Anna V. Hyatt, and cast by Gorham

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and more a matter of service. It is calling more and more for analysis of conditions-for digging below the surface, which, in the long run, means discovering the needs of your customer and taking steps to meet them. Such service to your customers means more than a better silverware business; it stimulates dealings in all your lines; makes customers want to patronize you more fully."

So favorable has been the public response to this new preaching of the charms, advantages, economy, usefulness, durability, beauty, and lasting satisfaction that Sterling silver brings that many dealers throughout the country found their silver department their

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