Book - Martele: Gorham's Nouveau Art Silver
"A Curator's Dream"
Ulysses Dietz, Curator, Decorative Arts, Newark Museum
"... A Remarkable Accomplishment"
Patricia E. Kane, Curator of American Decorative Arts, Yale University Art Gallery
Martele ... "information has been rather hard to come by for many dealers and the collecting public at large. I think Larry Pristo’s new book will change all that.
Will Chandler, Silver Magazine
... "The most complete possible treatment of the Gorham Company's line of handmade silver ..."
Alfred Mayor, The Magazine Antiques
..."Your book is very well worn - a truly indespensible referrence volume."
Elizabeth A. Williams, Ph.D., Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, Rhode Island School of Design Museum
Collectros and Dealers are Purchasing Copies - Additional Purchasers Include
Institutions
John Hay Library, Brown University
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Minneapolis Institute of Art
New Orleans Museum of Art
Philadelphia Museum Of Art
Royal Ontario Museum
San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts
The Newark Museum
Zilvermuseum Sterckshof Provincie Antwerpen
Auction Galleries
Christies
Grogan and Company
Heritage Auctions
Hindman Auctioneers
Sothebys
And Others
Now Available in a limited edition.
Martele
Gorham’s
Nouveau Art Silver
by
L. J. Pristo, Ph.D.
The book is the most comprehensive accounting of Gorham's Martele silver that has been written. The final text has 495 pages, 298 of which contain specific production information on around 4,800 items of Martele, accounting for approximatey 8,200 individual pieces. The Martele production information lists known information regarding the specific code, completion date, weight, maker, chaser, possible exhibitions, and factory net price. There are also 6 color and 550 black and white pictures related to various aspects of Martele, with over 800 different pieces of Martele silver shown in the images. Topics covered within the book include history, making, numbers of specific items produced, and a wealth of additional information never before published. A chapter on the general dating of Gorham Samples and Special Order silver work from 1895-96 to around 1940 is also included. The tables will be especially useful for the silver dealer and collector because of the application to any Gorham Sample or Special Order silver items, not just Martele. Chapters and Sections include information regarding:
THE MARTELE NAMETHE INTRODUCTION, FIRST, AND LAST PIECESDESIGN, MAKING, AND CHASINGPROMOTION AND SALESEXHIBITIONS AND EXPOSITIONSTYPES OF MARTELE ITEMS PRODUCEDTOTALS OF MARTELE ITEMS PRODUCEDMARKS ON MARTELE SILVER AND GOLDDATING GORHAM SAMPLES AND SPECIALSSPECIFIC INDIVIDUAL ITEM PRODUCTION RECORDSThe book's production record tables identify virtually all Martele. The research to document pieces included recording information from code and specific job assignment ledgers, costing slips, cards indicating metal weight, photograph date cards, uncoded parts boxes (for pieces such as flatware), making room personnel cards, etc. Gorham was a very large and industrialized company, documenting every step of the making process. In the preface the author indicates that "the majority of the data was gathered from the loose photographs and photo albums (probably in the neighborhood of 50,000 images) and costing slips (probably in excess of 100,000) as well as countless ledgers, journals, folders, files, file cabinets, wooden drawers, envelopes and so on were examined" trying to find all possible Martele information during the searches within the company silver records at the Gorham factory and Brown University. In addition, as new, factual information is obtained, notation updates to the book are available on the "Book Updates" tab on the web site. Some duplicate items have been recorded since the records did not specify more than one piece being made (such as a request for a matching item), but the codes and the piece type have all been listed in the book. To date only a single piece of Martele is known by the author to not have been included in the book. The particular item is an 1897 pitcher that the author was aware of and had copies of the production records, but at the time of writing the documentation was not available to collaborate that the item was Martele. The detail and accuracy of the book is to the point that even errors in Gorham's original documents for piece codes are recorded.
The book is considered to be the "bible" for the Martele collector and researcher.
Price: $164.95 per copy plus $20.00 shipping and handling through United Parcel Service, $7.00 media mail or $19.00 medium flat rate mail through the United States Postal Service. Sales tax ($10.94) applied to Arizona Residents.
For overseas shipping, CONTACT HERITAGE
You may purchase a copy of the book Martele: Gorham's Nouveau Art Silver on-line by simply clicking on the Paypal image below, or you may place an order by phone or email (see Contact Information).
A review of the book from the September / October 2001 edition of Silver Magazine is available by clicking on the following link - Silver Magazine review by Will Chandler
A review is also available from the March 2002 edition of The Magazine Antiques. Click on the following link to read the text - Magazine Antiques review by Alfred Mayor
ISBN 10 : 0-929526-52-X
ISBN-13 : 978-0929526522
Antique and Book Dealer inquiries welcome