- Nut Spoon
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Mid-nineteenth-century American silver often integrates specific elements and motifs into its design that allude to the utensil's function. The Gorham nut spoon represents an early instance of this vogue, and one with undeniable charm. A deceptively complex object, its gilded, pierced, canopied bowl is further enhanced by the imaginative transformation of its intricately cast handle into a wooden branch, complete with foliate sprigs and perched squirrel poised to crack open a nut.
Technical notes: The handle is completely in the round and terminates in an ogi val arch where it joins the bowl. The Gorham records identify this server as “nut spoon 113" and first document it on October 30, 1869. The net factory price was $21.85, an immense sum at the time that translates as ten working hours, comparable to the fabrication of a pitcher or a bowl.
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.
ProvenanceCalifornia governor Milton Slocum Latham (1827–1882) and his second wife, Mary McMullin Latham (d. 1939, m. 1870); given to Mary McMullin Latham; given to her cousin Mary McMullin Godley; given to her daughter Margaret S. Godley; [Gary Sprat, Healdsburg, California]; [Argentum Antiques, San Francisco]; purchased by Phyllis and Charles Tucker, Houston; given to MFAH, I995.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Marked incuse: STERLING, 113, and B
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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