A MONUMENTAL GORHAM MARTELE STERLING SILVER CERTERPIECE BOWL/FERN DISH

Description

A MONUMENTAL GORHAM MARTELE STERLING SILVER CERTERPIECE BOWL/FERN DISH
PRESENTED IS A MASSIVE GORHAM STERLING SILVER CENTERPIECE BOWL CREATED BY THE COMPANY'S MOST REVERED AND SOUGHT 'MARTELE' LINE IN 1912;
GORHAM'S MARTELE, FIRST INTRODUCED AT THE 1900 PARIS EXPOSITION, REPRESENTS AMERICA'S CREAM OF THE CROP IN THE ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT AS EACH INDIVIDUAL PIECE NOT ONLY BOASTED A UNIQUE DESIGN, BUT ALSO WAS METICULOUSLY HAND-RAISED AND DECORATED BY MASTER SILVERSMITHS;
OF THE ESTIMATED 1500 MARTELE PIECES IN EXISTENCE TODAY, FEW ARE OF SUCH HUGE SIZE AND MASSIVE WEIGHT AS THE PRESENT ITEM;
COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS A CENTERPIECE BOWL, GORHAM RECORDS IDENTIFIES BOWLS OF THIS SIZE AND SHAPE AS ''FERN DISHES" SINCE THEY SERVED AS DECORATIVE ACCENTS WITH ARRANGEMENT OF FERN. ACCORDING TO GORHAM RECORDS ONLY 24 MARTELE FERN DISHES WERE CREATED;
ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT ISSUE ATTESTING TO THE RARITY OF THIS ITEM IS THAT BETWEEN 1909 AND 1912-- DUE TO THE PROHIBITIVELY HIGH COST OF PRODUCTION-  FEWER THAN 70 MOSTLY SMALLER MARTELE PIECES WERE CREATED-- AS SUCH ONE MAY SPECULATE THAT THE NUMBER OF MARTELE PIECES OF THIS SIZE AND WEIGHT WERE NO MORE  THAN A HANDFUL WITHIN THIS PERIOD;
WHAT'S MORE, THE YEAR 1912-- THE YEAR OF CREATION OF THE PRESENT ITEM- MARKED THE FINAL YEAR OF OFFICIAL PRODUCTION OF THE MARTELE LINE;
EXCELLENT CONDITION-- SAVE FOR THE EXPECTED SOFT LINES, THE HAND- HAMMERED SURFACE STILL RETAINING ITS TEXTURE, NO DENTS;
DIAMETER: 18";
WEIGHT: 93 3/10 STANDARD
OUNCES (85 OZT., 2650 GRAMS)
ACCORDING TO GORHAM RECORDS THIS FERN DISH WAS HAND RAISED IN 36 HOURS; AND THEN, CHASED BY WILLIAM T. THOMPSON IN 93.5 HOURS. IT WAS FINISHED ON MARCH 4, 1912. THE NET FACTORY COST WAS 0.
(LARRY PRISTO, MARTELE:
GORHAM'S NOUVEAU ART SILVER
, P. 444)
PROVENANCE: CHRISTIE'S , 23 JANUARY 2009, NEW YORK, ROCKEFELLER CENTER:
https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/a-martele-silver-centerpiece-bowl-mark-of-5172655-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=5172655&sid=839048e1-4762-4786-84ab-9e62a39e4ecd
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Months, if not years, later the purchaser decides to have the item appraised. It would be then that he/she finds out about the actual provenance of the item: an auction house whose description of the item explicitly mentions "bearing questionable marks" for a Faberge work-master.
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