posted 03-18-2002 03:31 PM            

Continental Clues in Modern American Silver: France, Germany and Austria
presented by: W. Scott Braznell, Independent Scholar

Mr. Braznell is always a source of colorful and original thought on the subject of silver and design. He identified and discussed three forces at work to shape post World War I American Silver making specific reference to America's fascination with the French in the 1920's and 1930's. A common motif during this period incorporated the story of Diana the huntress with her deer prey. The second influence was that of Cubist triangular shapes and surfaces. And finally, there was the incorporation of color with silver by the use of semi-precious stones, enamel or materials such as bakelite. Mr. Braznell provided a myriad of examples to illustrate his point including products by Reed & Barton, Wallace Silversmiths and International Silversmiths. All of these manufacturers used the French firm of Puiforcat as a source of inspiration. Mr. Braznell proceeded to bring us up through the 1950's when Italians gained influence over the design of American silver.

Mr. Braznell's lecture was followed by discussions about collecting. It was a very long and full day and a few of the presenters ran long which is unfortunately an all too common occurrence at these types of conferences. This is always a sore point for me as well as most of the attendees. Although we are all very grateful for the effort that goes into developing a presentation and the information provided, presenters should be respectful of the attendees' time and capacity for absorption. Another complaint, which I will direct to NYU, is that the projection was awful. It seemed like at least half the time, the left side of the projection was appallingly out of focus despite repeated requests by presenters to please focus. We ended the day with a very pleasing reception at the American Craft Museum where we saw some examples of work by some of the silversmiths that had been discussed during the day.