Go “Sea” Some Serious Silver Treasures At Mystic Seaport Museum

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Go “Sea” Some Serious Silver Treasures At Mystic Seaport Museum

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Here's one with unusual items in silver that I think you'll appreciate for their workmanship and the history behind each one. There are quite a few of them so check them all out via the link. :)

Go “Sea” Some Serious Silver Treasures At Mystic Seaport Museum
By Amy Elliott | October 14, 2021

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"If you’re headed to New England this fall for business or pleasure, consider making a quick stop in Mystic, Connecticut—not for the usual quaintness and scenic charm, but to check out a new exhibit at the Mystic Seaport Museum. “Sea as Muse” is a dragon’s lair of silver regatta trophies, serving vessels, decorative objets, and curios, each masterfully wrought to depict a richly detailed scene that embraces the wilds and lore of the ocean and its inhabitants.

Ornate shell motifs, graceful waterfowl, whipped-up ocean waves, Renaissance-era putti, and Greco-Roman deities make many appearances alongside a host of other maritime iconography, from sirens to sailboats. As the museum had the majority of pieces in its permanent collection, the exhibition was curated with its usual clientele in mind: seafarers and sailors of all ages, especially those with an interest in maritime history. But with works by Tiffany & Co.; Gorham; Black, Starr & Frost; and Shreve, Crump & Low, the haul here promises to be uniquely interesting—and inspiring—to jewelry designers, retailers, and basically anyone drawn to shiny objects of the highest order.

Especially if silversmithing is your particular métier or fascination.

“The thing that separates a trophy from an ordinary object is the inscription,” explains “Sea as Muse” curator Katherine Hijar. But as the exhibit highlights, “trophies” could also be functional items, ones used and enjoyed in the home, whether they’re a pitcher, a punch bowl, a vase, or even an inkwell.

“What this exhibit does is really highlight these items as art objects,” says Hijar. “Part of my goal was to help visitors understand the history of decorative arts, and decorative arts as a form of communication.”

Yacht racing in United States became a popular pastime around the 1850s, and the sport was covered in great detail by the newspapers of the day. “You would get a full blow-by-blow account of the latest yachting race, and sometimes they would talk about the trophy or have an illustration of it—which, not incidentally, would provide free advertising for the maker,” says Hijar.

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Astor Cup in sterling silver, Gorham, 1899 (one of two Astor-funded trophy commissions in the collection)

In curating the exhibit, Hijar sought to decode the design elements on display in each piece. In one corner of the room is a magnificent cup (pictured above), one of two commissioned for the New York Yacht Club by John Jacob Astor IV, with Renaissance cherubs riding dolphins and a “weird sea serpent” that resembles John Jacob Astor III (John Jacob Astor IV’s uncle). There are also “wonderful mermaids,” as well as a sensual figure that is a clear reference to Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. “She’s holding a hand mirror and that has two possible meanings,” notes Hijar. “In the Middle Ages, illuminated manuscripts showed mermaids with mirrors. Also, Gorham made this cup and [the company] made toilette articles, so I think this was a little bit of sly advertising, a way to say, ‘If this cup is beyond your price point, you can get a Gorham mirror or comb.’”

The work of two jewelry artists are included in the exhibition, including Carl Schon of Baltimore, who was known for crafting seahorse brooches and sculptural amphibian jewels. His body of work also includes seashells and mollusks rather marvelously coated in silver and transformed into desk sets, candlesticks, and objets d’art.

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Sea urchin inkwell, Carl Schon, circa 1917

And contemporary jeweler Klaus Murer, who created the trophy below, is still alive today (albeit hard to find on the internet). Born in Switzerland, he apprenticed with Gübelin for four years at the age of 16 and then went on to learn from skilled jewelers and goldsmiths across Europe, including Georg Jensen in Denmark. He later ... "

https://www.jckonline.com/editorial-art ... rt-museum/
PinkDiamond
ISG Registered Gemologist


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