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Reflections in a Silver Spoon

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Author	Topic: Reflections in a Silver Spoon
Ann-marie Posts: 1 Registered: Aug 2001	posted 04-23-2003 01:51 PM I am writing an essay that attempts to chronicle the love affair American women have had with sterling silver and the social, economic and personal implications of that attachment. Specifically, I hope to capture what it meant to women at different times in history i.e. during the war years, the advent of Women's Liberation, etc. As background, I am trying to weave the historical threads of how sterling silver got on the table in the first place and came to be a social status symbol. Do any of you know of any books that record that information? ------------------ amj IP: Logged
labarbedor Posts: 353 Registered: Jun 2002	posted 04-23-2003 07:26 PM You certainly picked a difficult subject for an essay. In my opinion one of the best books on American silver is "Early American Silver for the Cautious Collector" by Martha Gandy Fales. Unfortuneately I don't remember her or anyone else treating what you are looking for. I don't know much about the attitude of silver post 1900, however I don't think your essay is going to be an easy subject if you discuss pre-1800 silver. I have never seen it treated and I certainly don't know of any statistics that prove it, but I would be willing to bet that before 1800 most silver was owned by men and was considered generally as a male possession. During the Victorian period this started to change and only relatively recently has silver become to be thought of as a female possession. Of course the above is more true in the Anglo-Saxon tradition and probably less true in many other cultures. Certainly in some cultures the possession of silver by women came far earlier, and in any culture there was the exceptional wealthy and powerful woman who owned silver. Maurice IP: Logged
Stephen Posts: 625 Registered: Jan 2003	posted 04-23-2003 07:28 PM Welcome to the forums. Have you tried Venable's "Silver in America, 1840-1940"? It is an excellent reference. I'm not aware of anything comparable that covers WWII (when most silver production was curtailed) or the post-war era. IP: Logged
Stephen Posts: 625 Registered: Jan 2003	posted 04-23-2003 07:43 PM Maybe we should clarify which war(s) you're referring to and how far back in history you intend to go. Sterling silver in America goes back to about the 1860s -- in England it goes back much further than that. IP: Logged
Stephen Posts: 625 Registered: Jan 2003	posted 04-24-2003 03:03 AM quote: E-mail received from Ann-Marie: Thanks for your responses and suggestions. You hit the nail on the head as I need all the help I can get to narrow my topic so it is feasible to tackle. To answer your question, I was thinking of only going back to 1900. The essay will be primarily subjective, soft data gathered from interviewing women from different generations but I was hoping to weave some historical data in as well. Thanks again for responding. IP: Logged
nihontochicken Posts: 289 Registered: May 2003	posted 05-19-2003 09:10 PM Hi! This is a bit late, as I only found these forums in the last few days. I recently acquired an excellent text, "Women Silversmiths, 1685-1845", Glanville & Goldsborough, National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1990, co-published with Thames & Hudson, Library of Congress #89-51744, no ISBN # indicated. It puts in context the position of a woman of the time with respect to social relations and commerce. In regards to the latter, there were perhaps fewer restrictions than is the current popular imagination. Perhaps the photographic examples are at times a bit disappointing, as many well worn items are depicted, possibly because the author was limited in part to her own personal collection. Paradoxically, the book is very well printed on good, glossy paper (well, it was printed in Japan, so that makes sense ;o). The era discussed is prior to the period in which you are interested, and is written about the maker as opposed to the consumer, but it well discusses the gender related considerations wrt silverware. Good luck! Rick IP: Logged

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