GENERAL DESCRIPTION
In the last decade of the 19th century, the Gorham Manufacturing Company and Tiffany & Co. were the preeminent American silver firms, whose exceptional works were lauded at major international expositions. The Nautilus Centerpiece, produced especially for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, is a tour-de-force that reflects the skill of Gorham designers and silversmiths.
The elaborate Beaux Arts style of the centerpiece suggests Classical and Renaissance influences, especially that of 16th century South German mounted nautilus shells. Designed as a yachting trophy, it is profuse with materials, motifs, and mythological figures associated with the sea. It portrays the birth of Venus, the goddess of love, who rises from the sea surrounded by masks of the sea god Neptune and raises aloft a nautilus shell. Atop the shell sits Nike, the goddess of victory, her wings and arms outstretched in a gesture of triumph.
Partially gilded and inlaid with semiprecious stones, including pearls, turquoise, jade, garnet, tourmaline, and amethyst, the execution of the centerpiece required over 400 hours of skilled labor. Gorham was so pleased with the centerpiece that it reproduced the original design drawing in numerous books and pamphlets distributed at the fair and provided the image to newspapers for publication.
Adapted from
- Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Nautilus Centerpiece," Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), 221.
- Charles L. Venable, Silver in America, 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art; New York, New York; Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994), 336.
NOTES
- UMOs pending for related DMA permanent collection objects. See below.
- I updated Provenance, Exhibition History, Bibliography, and Published References in TMS.
I uploaded the following sources as Text Entries in TMS:
- Label copy
- Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Nautilus Centerpiece," Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), 221.
- Charles L. Venable, Silver in America, 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art; New York, New York; Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994), 336.
checked associated CC: William C Codman complete, Gorham complete,
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
n.d.: Gorham Manufacturing Company (founded 1831), Providence, Rhode Island [1]
n.d.: American Metal Company, Ltd. (founded 1887, merged with Climax Molybdenum Company to form American Metal Climax Inc. (AMAX Inc.) in 1957), New York, New York [2]
1921-d. 1934: William Vogelstein (1871-1934), New York, New York, gift of the above, February 3, 1921 [2]
1934-d. 1990: Verna Ross Orndorff (d. 1990), River Forest, Illinois, purchased from the above [3]
From 1990: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased at the estate sale of the above, Willis Henry Auctions, Inc. Hingham, Massachusetts, September 22, 1990, as "outstanding Art Nouveau commemorative piece of woman w/ Nautilus" (accessioned: September 24, 1990)
[1] Charles L. Venable, Silver in America, 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art; New York, New York; Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994), 116-118.
[2] 1990.176 engraved with the following inscription: LUDWIG VOGELSTEIN / UPON THE OCCASION OF HIS / FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY / WITH AFFECTION AND ESTEEM FROM / HIS FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES OF / THE AMERICAN METAL COMPANY, LIMITED / FEBRUARY 3, 1921
[3] See "Remarks" in Object Summary (dated March 2, 1995, copy in Collections Records Object File)
EXHIBITION HISTORY KNOWN? Y
1994: "Silver in America, 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor," Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, November 6, 1994 - January 29, 1995; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 12-May 21, 1995; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 13-August 13, 1995; Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Delaware, September 9, 1995-January 7, 1996, cat. p. 256, fig. 9.6, illus.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
12937150: UMO
Curator Kevin Tucker discusses the Nautilus Centerpiece
CONTEXTUAL IMAGE ASSETS
248560439: UMO
[The Nautilus Centerpiece was illustrated in Hubert Howe Bancroft's The Book of the Fair, published in 1893. Source: http://columbus.iit.edu/bookfair/00064049.html]
248560658:UMO
[Designer William C. Codman was inspired by Renaissance mounted nautilus shells, like Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Nautilus Cup, produced in the Dresden Court Workshops in Saxony, Germany circa 1720. The Renaissance original and the Beaux Arts imitation both feature gilded silver mounts studded with semiprecious stones. Source: Nautilus Cup LACMA M.2001.57a-b.jpg, Wikimedia Commons, accessed February 20, 2015, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nautilus_Cup_LACMA_M.2001.57a-b.jpg]
WEB RESOURCES
YouTube~Watch a video about Gorham Manufacturing Company
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- The focal point of Abraham Hendricksz van Beyeren's Still Life with Landscape (1987.3) is an example of the Renaissance nautilus cups that inspired the Nautilus Centerpiece designed by William C. Codman and executed by Gorham Manufacturing Company. Van Beyeren likely owned this nautilus cup, as it appears in several of his paintings.
- The scallop shell base of the Nautilus Centerpiece is supported by four feet, two in the form of a cresting wave and two in the form of a dolphin. A third dolphin dives and entwines Venus as she rises form the sea. With bulging foreheads, upturned snouts, and scales, these dolphins reveal the influence of the Renaissance, rather than the 19th century. Jean Baptise Marie Pierre's The Abduction of Venus (1989.133.FA) features a fanciful dolphin similar to those on the Nautilus Centerpiece.
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1990.176
Category
rules_operator
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General Description
In the last decade of the 19th century, the Gorham Manufacturing Company and Tiffany & Co. were the preeminent American silver firms, whose exceptional works were lauded at major international expositions. The Nautilus Centerpiece, produced especially for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, is a tour-de-force that reflects the skill of Gorham designers and silversmiths.
The elaborate Beaux Arts style of the centerpiece suggests Classical and Renaissance influences, especially that of 16th century South German mounted nautilus shells. Designed as a yachting trophy, it is profuse with materials, motifs, and mythological figures associated with the sea. It portrays the birth of Venus, the goddess of love, who rises from the sea surrounded by masks of the sea god Neptune and raises aloft a nautilus shell. Atop the shell sits Nike, the goddess of victory, her wings and arms outstretched in a gesture of triumph.
Partially gilded and inlaid with semiprecious stones, including pearls, turquoise, jade, garnet, tourmaline, and amethyst, the execution of the centerpiece required over 400 hours of skilled labor. Gorham was so pleased with the centerpiece that it reproduced the original design drawing in numerous books and pamphlets distributed at the fair and provided the image to newspapers for publication.
Adapted from
- Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Nautilus Centerpiece," Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), 221.
- Charles L. Venable, Silver in America, 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art; New York, New York; Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994), 336.
Fun Facts
- The focal point of Abraham Hendricksz van Beyeren's Still Life with Landscape (1987.3) is an example of the Renaissance nautilus cups that inspired the Nautilus Centerpiece designed by William C. Codman and executed by Gorham Manufacturing Company. Van Beyeren likely owned this nautilus cup, as it appears in several of his paintings.
- The scallop shell base of the Nautilus Centerpiece is supported by four feet, two in the form of a cresting wave and two in the form of a dolphin. A third dolphin dives and entwines Venus as she rises form the sea. With bulging foreheads, upturned snouts, and scales, these dolphins reveal the influence of the Renaissance, rather than the 19th century. Jean Baptise Marie Pierre's The Abduction of Venus (1989.133.FA) features a fanciful dolphin similar to those on the Nautilus Centerpiece.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
- UMOs pending for related DMA permanent collection objects. See below.
- I updated Provenance, Exhibition History, Bibliography, and Published References in TMS.
I uploaded the following sources as Text Entries in TMS:
- Label copy
- Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Nautilus Centerpiece," Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), 221.
- Charles L. Venable, Silver in America, 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art; New York, New York; Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994), 336.
checked associated CC: William C Codman complete, Gorham complete,
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
n.d.: Gorham Manufacturing Company (founded 1831), Providence, Rhode Island [1]
n.d.: American Metal Company, Ltd. (founded 1887, merged with Climax Molybdenum Company to form American Metal Climax Inc. (AMAX Inc.) in 1957), New York, New York [2]
1921-d. 1934: William Vogelstein (1871-1934), New York, New York, gift of the above, February 3, 1921 [2]
1934-d. 1990: Verna Ross Orndorff (d. 1990), River Forest, Illinois, purchased from the above [3]
From 1990: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased at the estate sale of the above, Willis Henry Auctions, Inc. Hingham, Massachusetts, September 22, 1990, as "outstanding Art Nouveau commemorative piece of woman w/ Nautilus" (accessioned: September 24, 1990)
[1] Charles L. Venable, Silver in America, 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art; New York, New York; Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994), 116-118.
[2] 1990.176 engraved with the following inscription: LUDWIG VOGELSTEIN / UPON THE OCCASION OF HIS / FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY / WITH AFFECTION AND ESTEEM FROM / HIS FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES OF / THE AMERICAN METAL COMPANY, LIMITED / FEBRUARY 3, 1921
[3] See "Remarks" in Object Summary (dated March 2, 1995, copy in Collections Records Object File)
EXHIBITION HISTORY KNOWN? Y
1994: "Silver in America, 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor," Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, November 6, 1994 - January 29, 1995; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 12-May 21, 1995; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 13-August 13, 1995; Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Delaware, September 9, 1995-January 7, 1996, cat. p. 256, fig. 9.6, illus.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
12937150: UMO
Curator Kevin Tucker discusses the Nautilus Centerpiece
CONTEXTUAL
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1990.176
source file
object_notes_2_b-0001.xml.nores