posted 03-18-2002 03:30 PM            

A Personal Perspective: Collecting Contemporary Broad-bladed Slices
presented by: B. Seymour Rabinovitch, Silver Collector and Patron

What a breath of fresh air to listen to and view Mr. Rabinavitch's tour of the slices that he began commissioning in the late 1980's from American and English silversmiths. The presentation was based on the book Contemporary Silver which he co-authored with Helen Clifford. I should have anticipated how delightful this presentation would be based on how much I thoroughly enjoy the book. Mr. Rabinovitch convincingly makes the case for true lovers of silver and the craft to put their money where their mouth is by commissioning their own works of silver. The slices that he showed were magnificent both from a construction as well as a creative design point of view. He also proposed that we consider the differences between the American and English pieces with the thought that perhaps the English pieces showed more conversance with traditional techniques like engraving whereas the American pieces tended toward more form over function.