In case you’re headed to New England this fall for enterprise or pleasure, contemplate making a fast cease in Mystic, Connecticut—not for the standard quaintness and scenic appeal, however to take a look at a brand new exhibit on the Mystic Seaport Museum. “Sea as Muse” is a dragon’s lair of silver regatta trophies, serving vessels, ornamental objets, and curios, every masterfully wrought to depict a richly detailed scene that embraces the wilds and lore of the ocean and its inhabitants.
Ornate shell motifs, sleek waterfowl, whipped-up ocean waves, Renaissance-era putti, and Greco-Roman deities make many appearances alongside a bunch of different maritime iconography, from sirens to sailboats. Because the museum had nearly all of items in its everlasting assortment, the exhibition was curated with its traditional clientele in thoughts: seafarers and sailors of all ages, particularly these with an curiosity in maritime historical past. However with works by Tiffany & Co.; Gorham; Black, Starr & Frost; and Shreve, Crump & Low, the haul right here guarantees to be uniquely attention-grabbing—and provoking—to jewellery designers, retailers, and principally anybody drawn to shiny objects of the very best order.
Particularly if silversmithing is your specific métier or fascination.
“The factor that separates a trophy from an extraordinary object is the inscription,” explains “Sea as Muse” curator Katherine Hijar. However because the exhibit highlights, “trophies” is also practical gadgets, ones used and loved within the dwelling, whether or not they’re a pitcher, a punch bowl, a vase, and even an inkwell.
“What this exhibit does is basically spotlight these things as artwork objects,” says Hijar. “A part of my aim was to assist guests perceive the historical past of ornamental arts, and ornamental arts as a type of communication.”
Yacht racing in United States grew to become a well-liked pastime across the 1850s, and the game was lined in nice element by the newspapers of the day. “You’ll get a full blow-by-blow account of the most recent yachting race, and generally they’d speak in regards to the trophy or have an illustration of it—which, not by the way, would offer free promoting for the maker,” says Hijar.
Astor Cup in sterling silver, Gorham, 1899 (considered one of two Astor-funded trophy commissions within the assortment)
In curating the exhibit, Hijar sought to decode the design components on show in each bit. In a single nook of the room is a powerful cup (pictured above), considered one of two commissioned for the New York Yacht Membership by John Jacob Astor IV, with Renaissance cherubs driving dolphins and a “bizarre sea serpent” that resembles John Jacob Astor III (John Jacob Astor IV’s uncle). There are additionally “great mermaids,” in addition to a sensual determine that could be a clear reference to Botticelli’s Start of Venus. “She’s holding a hand mirror and that has two doable meanings,” notes Hijar. “Within the Center Ages, illuminated manuscripts confirmed mermaids with mirrors. Additionally, Gorham made this cup and [the company] made toilette articles, so I believe this was a bit little bit of sly promoting, a method to say, ‘If this cup is past your value level, you may get a Gorham mirror or comb.’”
The work of two jewellery artists are included within the exhibition, together with Carl Schon of Baltimore, who was recognized for crafting seahorse brooches and sculptural amphibian jewels. His physique of labor additionally contains seashells and mollusks relatively marvelously coated in silver and remodeled into desk units, candlesticks, and objets d’artwork.
Sea urchin inkwell, Carl Schon, circa 1917
And up to date jeweler Klaus Murer, who created the trophy under, continues to be alive as we speak (albeit laborious to seek out on the web). Born in Switzerland, he apprenticed with Gübelin for 4 years on the age of 16 after which went on to study from expert jewelers and goldsmiths throughout Europe, together with Georg Jensen in Denmark. He later immigrated to america, the place he had a profitable profession as a jeweler in San Francisco from the Nineteen Seventies to the current day till he retired in 2017.
Paul Masson Cup in silver and brass, 1968 (commissioned by the Paul Masson vineyard in Northern California for the Star Class sailboat race on the San Francisco Bay)
The exhibition additionally seeks to emphasise the craftspeople who truly produced the trophies, largely in workshops in Connecticut and Rhode Island. In a single case, Hijar was capable of monitor down the “costing receipt” for one of many extra spectacular cups, which led to her unearthing a job card detailing the surnames of the lads who labored on it—and the hours they put in—in flourished script. Hijar’s “paper path” is seen for all to see, a exceptional relic from the previous that the jewellery commerce will admire greater than most.
“From their surnames and utilizing numerous databases, I used to be capable of determine every considered one of these employees and [when they first arrived in America],” says Hijar. “They had been all immigrants from England, Norway, and Germany. This was a holy grail for me, as a result of these craftsmen labored anonymously. I didn’t got down to inform an immigrant story, however in truth that is the story, and it actually enriches [one’s] appreciation of the objects.”
As with an important couture jewels, while you peel again every section of the manufacturing course of, you do certainly land in a workshop of nameless artisans utilizing their arms and muscular tissues to sculpt and strike and chase and set. That “Sea as Muse” exhibition viewers will probably be reminded of the behind-the-scenes efforts that precede these glittering moments of status and fanfare provides much more texture to the objects catching the sunshine.
Just a few extra examples under.
Palladium Trophy, Rogers, Smith & Co., 1887
Defender Cup in sterling silver, Black, Starr & Frost (with Gorham because the probably provider), 1895
From left: Pitcher in sterling silver, Tiffany & Co., 1856; pitcher in sterling silver, Whiting Manufacturing Co., 1890
