Details

Title

Martelé Wine Pitcher

Artist/Maker

Gorham Manufacturing Company (American, established 1831), manufacturer
William Christmas Codman (American, 1839-1921), design supervisor
J. Hoare and Company, Corning, NY, 1868-1921, glass engravers
Edward Zio (American, 1868-1927), chasing

Date

1900

Medium

Silver and engraved lead glass

Dimensions

Contact the museum for more information

Credit

Virginia Carroll Crawford Collection

Accession #

1982.306

Location

Currently not on view

This decanter was among the American works unveiled to great acclaim at the Paris Exposition of 1900. It belongs to a line of hand-formed and decorated silver called martelé (French for “hammered”) that the Gorham Manufacturing Company developed in the Art Nouveau style. This “new art” rejected classical decoration in favor of flowing, sinewy, organic forms. American makers such as Gorham found success with objects in this style, directly competing with and, in the case of silver, often surpassing their European competitors.