posted 01-13-2002 12:18 PM            

Thank goodness, there will be a Pier Show in January in New York City and we are all looking forward to it.

One of the many fun aspects of these shows is that we get to see such marvelous silver. To make it more interesting this time around, we plan to bring our digital camera in search of the most interesting piece of silver so that we can share it with our Silver Salon readers and participants.

We invite all of you who will be at the Pier Show to share with us what you think is your most interesting piece of silver and why. Let us know in advance (via email info@smpub.com) and we will be sure to stop by your booth for the full story and a photo shoot. Or stop us on the show floor to share any find you are particularly proud of.

Thanks in advance for participating and we hope this creates some lively discussions in the forums. The forums have a strong and regular readership and we would love to see more of you actively participate by posting.

See following post for details on the Pier Show logistics:
http://www.smpub.com/ubb/Forum11/HTML/000066.html

posted 01-27-2002 03:22 PM            

There was an energy at this Pier Show that was unusual. A sort of frenzy was evident amongst the attendees, perhaps a manifestation of the pent up demand created by the cancellation of so many of the Fall antique shows in New York City. It would be surprising if any dealers found the show disappointing based on the number of sales being made everywhere on the floor – and the sales were big.

As promised, we wandered the show asking people if they would be willing to share their most interesting silver. The results are in and we hope you have as much fun viewing these as we did finding them. Your comments on any of the pieces is most welcome.

First, from Dorwin Antiques, we have a sugar sifter by Gorham. It is in a pattern labeled "Olive Branch" by Sam Hough, the Gorham archivist. The pattern is reminiscent of the Gorham Lady's pattern because of the use of a three dimensional lady's hand. However, in Lady's, the hand is used to hold the bowl of the respective serving piece. With the "Olive Branch" sifter, the hand is at the terminal end holding an olive branch. Perhaps this design is a tribute to the end of the Civil War which would put the design in the same timeline as Lady's, patent 1868, which was one of the whimsical designs that Gorham produced in the post-Civil War period. The hand on "Olive Branch" looks different than the one on Lady's. The "Olive Branch" hand seems to have longer, more elegant fingers, while Lady's fingers seem shorter and possibly struggling under the weight of holding the bowl of the serving piece. This comparison is admittedly based on only a photo of Lady's pattern examples. If anyone would like to lend us a real life example of Lady's to photograph, we would be greatly appreciative.

Our propensity for whatsits drew us to the next piece from David Allen. It is English silverplate and stands about one foot tall. My first guess was that it had something to do with wine because of the corkscrew like mechanism at the top. The curvilinear metal surrounding the piece is clearly meant to hold receptacles such as glasses, bowls or bottles. The corkscrew mechanism sits atop a hollow ball that opens up to reveal a semicircle plunger at the other end of the corkscrew. The bottom half of the hollow ball is pierced. Then it became obvious. This is an orange squeezer. This would sure be fun to have on the breakfast table!

Slope Antiques had a beautifully enameled early Art Nouveau creamer and sugar bowl by Gorham. As the marks show, this set was produced in 1897 as indicated by the pitchfork date mark. The set is graced with an enameled Iris pattern which is the perfect palette for the suffragette colors of green, white and violet. Each piece is completely vermeiled. The naturalistic, flowing, floral motif is characteristic of Art Nouveau style.

More Photos - click here

Animal life was the name of the game at Rachel Marks' booth. The first featured piece is a very realistic duck head made by Simons, Bro. & Co. of Philadelphia. Simons is best known for their thimbles and other sewing paraphernalia which led us to speculate on the purpose for the duck head. The beak closes and opens and has texturing on the inside. The consensus was that this is a ribbon puller. Also in the booth was a pair of glove buttonhooks by George W. Shiebler & Co. of New York. The first hook has a spider on one side of the handle and a fly on the other side. The second hook has a cat and fish on either side of the handle. Shiebler used these motifs on a large variety of flatware, holloware and jewelry items and it is always fun to see the creativity of their use.

More Photos - click here

More Photos - click here

We almost missed the last of our interesting silver finds and in fact, the lights were going out at the show as we snapped our last pictures at the Bradford House Antiques booth. Here we have a spectacular piece by the Whiting Manufacturing Company. We couldn't decide amongst us whether it was a humidor or a cracker jar. Inside the lid was a removable pierced cover which is either for absorbing or distributing moisture. Maybe you can provide more insight. The turquoise colored glass was clearly blown into the sterling silver jacket as you can see sections of the glass gently bulging out of the silver frame. This pristine piece was as mesmerizing as the Caribbean Sea from which its color seems to have been borrowed.

More Photos - click here