Gorham Manufacturing Company
Dessert Knife

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Dessert Knife
Datec. 1860–1868
Made inProvidence, Rhode Island, United States
MediumSilver
Dimensions8 × 3/4 in. (20.3 × 1.9 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Phyllis and Charles Tucker
Object numberB.95.9.1
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Metals Study Room
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

In 1845 Thomas Webster commented that dessert knives and forks were essentials among “the usual articles in silver required to furnish a table. . . .” These dessert knives by Gorham terminate in a three-dimensional head, the ultimate development of a series of related flatware patterns introduced by several silver manufacturers in the 1860s that incorporated medallion portraits. Gorham's pattern Bust, which entered into the cost books in 1866, is perhaps the best known of the three-dimensional variety. The manufacturer also offered individual place, tea, butter, and crumb knives in this pattern.

Related examples: This pair originally comes from a set of twelve; another pair belongs to Winterthur, and the others are privately owned.

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.


ProvenancePhyllis and Charles Tucker, Houston; given to MFAH, 1995.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
Marked incuse on side of knife blade: standard Gorham marks of a lion, an anchor, and an old English G [similar to B.97.7.1–.4]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

scan from file photograph
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