GENERAL DESCRIPTION
At the 1900 Paris world’s fair, Gorham Manufacturing Company introduced a limited production line of handwrought wares named Martelé, the French word for "hammered." In the spirit of the British Arts and Crafts movement, each Martelé design was raised, chased, and finished by hand, processes evident in conspicuous hammer marks. While Gorham utilized methods of production based on 19th-century precepts, it rejected styles of the past in favor of a fashion that evoked the new century: Art Nouveau. Chief Designer William C. Codman and other designers applied Art Nouveau details, such as exuberant handles and everted feet and lips with undulating edges, and decorations, such as organic ornament, to traditional forms at once progressive, yet palatable to conservative American consumers.
This Martelé dish predates the bulk of Gorham's production in the Art Nouveau taste that was most popular between 1900 and 1909. Nevertheless, the dish features all the hallmarks of the finest wares in the Martelé line including an undulating outline, shimmering surface, and exceptionally fine chased decoration, including heads of various game birds, a frog, and flowers. Believed to have been ordered by Albert Augustus Pope (1843 - 1909), a wealthy bicycle and automobile manufacturer from Hartford, Connecticut, this dish was used for serving meat.
Adapted 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), 251-258.
- Charles L. Venable, "Meat dish," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Jay Gates (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1997), 247.
NOTES
TMS Updates - 10/12/2017 JBA
I updated the title of the object in TMS to include the acute accent mark and carets to indicate italics.
I removed techniques from the Medium fields in TMS. Techniques are listed as tags.
I added chaser George W. Sauthof, listed in Samuel J. Hough's "Report on Gorham Martelé 18" Meat Dish 8931," to the Constituents field in TMS.
I added "Circa 1900: Design at the Turn of the Century" label copy to TMS as a Text Entry.
I edited, updated, or entered the Provenance, Exhibition History, Bibliography, and Published References fields in TMS.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Until 1995: The Oberod Collection, Centerville, Delaware [1]
From 1995: Dallas Museum of Art, anonymous gift
[1] See Collections Records Digital Objects File.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
YouTube~Watch a video about Gorham Manufacturing Company
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1995.64
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General Description
At the 1900 Paris world’s fair, Gorham Manufacturing Company introduced a limited production line of handwrought wares named Martelé, the French word for "hammered." In the spirit of the British Arts and Crafts movement, each Martelé design was raised, chased, and finished by hand, processes evident in conspicuous hammer marks. While Gorham utilized methods of production based on 19th-century precepts, it rejected styles of the past in favor of a fashion that evoked the new century: Art Nouveau. Chief Designer William C. Codman and other designers applied Art Nouveau details, such as exuberant handles and everted feet and lips with undulating edges, and decorations, such as organic ornament, to traditional forms at once progressive, yet palatable to conservative American consumers.
This Martelé dish predates the bulk of Gorham's production in the Art Nouveau taste that was most popular between 1900 and 1909. Nevertheless, the dish features all the hallmarks of the finest wares in the Martelé line including an undulating outline, shimmering surface, and exceptionally fine chased decoration, including heads of various game birds, a frog, and flowers. Believed to have been ordered by Albert Augustus Pope (1843 - 1909), a wealthy bicycle and automobile manufacturer from Hartford, Connecticut, this dish was used for serving meat.
Adapted 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), 251-258.
- Charles L. Venable, "Meat dish," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Jay Gates (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1997), 247.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
TMS Updates - 10/12/2017 JBA
I updated the title of the object in TMS to include the acute accent mark and carets to indicate italics.
I removed techniques from the Medium fields in TMS. Techniques are listed as tags.
I added chaser George W. Sauthof, listed in Samuel J. Hough's "Report on Gorham Martelé 18" Meat Dish 8931," to the Constituents field in TMS.
I added "Circa 1900: Design at the Turn of the Century" label copy to TMS as a Text Entry.
I edited, updated, or entered the Provenance, Exhibition History, Bibliography, and Published References fields in TMS.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
Until 1995: The Oberod Collection, Centerville, Delaware [1]
From 1995: Dallas Museum of Art, anonymous gift
[1] See Collections Records Digital Objects File.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
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Objects
number
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1995.64
source file
object_notes_2_b-0039.xml.nores