: Silver has a venerable reputation. It is one of those hoary
ancestral treasures that leave your grandmother's sideboard only
on the most sacred occasions.
But all grandmothers were young once. In the 1920s and 30s,
newlywed couples would have furnished their homes with all the
accoutrements of civilized dining, a category that included
flatware and plate. In most cases, this meant one of the
traditional styles, something that recalled the very best in
historic craftsmanship.
For the more adventurous, however, there were the new Modern
styles that were inspired by European design and made allusions
to contemporary life: skyscrapers and Cubism, airplanes and
ships. In a medium so closely associated with tradition, they
were never as enduringly popular as the historic revivals.
Consequently, production numbers were low, ranging from a
half-dozen to the low hundreds.
"Modernism in American Silver: 20th Century Design," an
exhibition organized by the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA), sheds
light on a field that was for many years overlooked by collectors
and scholars. The exhibition that explores the creative
development of the American silver industry's forays into
Modernist design is on view at the Renwick Gallery at the
Smithsonian American Art Museum through January 22.
