George Shiebler (1846-1920) was born to a German immigrant family living in Baltimore, Maryland. His father, Andrew, and mother, Christine (née Fox), had several other children. Two older brothers, Andrew K. and William, also entered the New York jewelry and silverware trades and all achieved a great measure of success.
George received his early education in Washington, D.C., where he was, for a time, employed as a Western Union messenger. When still a young man he began working as a salesman in a jewelry manufacturing business which specialized in gold chains. Soon thereafter he became a junior partner, the firm becoming Hodenpyl, Tunnison & Shiebler. In 1876 he bought out the business of Coles & Reynolds and started to manufacture silverware. Within a few years he acquired the tools and dies of a number of older firms, including those of John Polhamus in 1877 and Morgan Morgans in 1883. Shiebler continued to manufacture their flatware patterns and product lines, and added many of his own. Soon he became one of the largest producers of flatware and novelties in the country. The firm also manufactured hollowware, although on a more limited basis, at its Brooklyn manufactory.
Shiebler was a designer of great note and originality. He was known as "a man of innate artistic ability and with a love of the beautiful which became so manifest in his product that his wares attained a distinct success." He held a number of design patents for flatware patterns and for souvenir spoons. And his idea to revive the use of "medallion work" in jewelry and silverware had so favorable an outcome that domestic as well as European producers soon copied him. His energy and artistry manifested themselves even in his large Park Slope mansion in Brooklyn, which he personally designed and decorated, incorporating many novel features for comfort and convenience. Shiebler was especially proud of the chute which led from the street to the refrigerator in the kitchen, through which ice was delivered daily.
In 1910 Shiebler dissolved his firm and retired as a manufacturer. What happened to the tools and dies of George W. Shiebler & Co. is uncertain. There are reports that Gorham purchased a number of them. At least one set of Shiebler's flatware dies, American Beauty, went to the Mauser Mfg. Co.
During his lifetime Shiebler contributed to many private and public organizations and served as both director and officer of the New York Jewelers' Association. Following the sale of his firm, he spent the last ten years of his life employed by Gorham. Shiebler is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.
Excerpt from
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), 130, 322.
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Wrote rule (JBA 8/14/2017)
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