The appeal of silver to man has never tarnished through the centuries. However, a more minimalist aesthetic may hold stronger luster for today’s lovers of this noble metal.
Rare antique silver holloware–serving pieces and table accessories–that offers simplicity of form is especially alluring to today’s collectors, as the lineup at the Chicago International Antiques & Fine Art Fair at The Merchandise Mart April 26 through 29 proves.
Three of the more than 100 world-leading dealers of antiques and fine arts participating in the fair are specialists in silver. Each will bring silver that demonstrates its malleable nature, so adaptable to artistic expression.
One London dealer will offer the Arts and Crafts designs of Danish silversmith Georg Jensen in holloware and flatware; a second, teapots of mid-19th Century English design guru Christopher Dresser, whose designs were a precursor to Art Deco style. A third dealer, this one from Chicago, will provide the ornate Old World European aesthetic in trays, candelabras and coffee sets.
For the additional delight of silver aficionados, Tiffany & Co., the pre-eminent purveyor of jewels and luxury goods, is presenting a special exhibit based on “Magnificent Tif-fany Silver” (Abrams, $60), a new book by the firm’s design director and America’s alpha arbiter of taste, John Loring.
The exhibit, spanning a range of periods and highlighting outstanding designers’ work, allows visitors to view the extraordinary collection of silver created since Tiffany’s founding in 1837. The objects include sports trophies, custom designs for prominent families, presentation pieces and contemporary pieces for the home.
More than a testimony to Tiffany, the exhibit also represents the evolution of American taste, says Loring, who will make an appearance during the fair’s preview party on April 25. He will lecture on Tiffany’s triumphs in silver production, explain many of the techniques used by some of Tiffany’s greatest designers, and show how the world of silver, old and new, is an interlocking one, with American silver design much influenced by our changing lifestyles.
For example, pieces at the front of Loring’s book illustrate a lifestyle that implies lots of servants. Few of us actually live that way.
“Twenty-four years ago, when I came to work for Tiffany’s, we sold cartloads of silver vegetable dishes,” he says. “We discontinued those 15 years ago.” Elaborate silver tea sets also sat without selling, as most of us today, Loring included, are working at our desks at teatime.
“In the beginning of the ’80s, life changed abruptly,” Loring adds. “Money was flowing in the streets of Chicago and Los Angeles. People began buying decorative pieces, but they weren’t buying serving pieces.”
That trend has taken a U-turn, says Loring, because of the simple, organic designs of one of the most successful designers of the late 20th Century, Elsa Peretti, a Tiffany designer.
Peretti’s pitchers, plates, tureens, trays, even ladles, are functional as well as beautiful.
While Granny’s old silver, passed down from generation to generation, may be of sentimental value, he says, it may not be used except on formal occasions.
“With today’s silver, you could put paper plates on the table and still be stylish with Peretti’s Bone candlesticks,” Loring says. “They are a delight to use, and, suddenly, Americans are in love with silver again.”
This renewed affection has caused vintage silver to be newly appreciated and sought after. It also has sent silver prices soaring.
In the 10 years since she started her business, Gladys Koermer of Silver Treasures in Chicago says, prices have more than doubled. Koermer, who also will be participating in the fair, specializes in silver from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with emphasis on Vienna silversmiths. She will offer fine American and European silver made from 1800 through Art Deco, including tea and coffee services, candle holders and candelabra, centerpieces and complete sets of tableware. “People are buying important pieces,” she says, including candlesticks, candelabra and also flatware, which they do use.
Beauty and investment
Collectors know how to take care of silver and clean it (Hagerty brand silver cleaner is the best, she says). If an onlooker remarks, “Oh, it tarnishes!” it tells Koermer this is a neophyte.
A lot of decorative pieces are kept in cabinets. Big beautiful tea sets often sit on display on sideboards, she adds.
The reason collectors buy all kinds of silver ranges from beauty to investment, says Koermer.
“The original reason why people collected silver,” adds Alistair Crawford, managing director of The Silver Fund, which carries the world’s most comprehensive inventory of Danish silversmith Georg Jensen’s work, “is 100 years ago, it was currency and a display of wealth. Today, it is a fabulous metal and a great medium for sculptural art.”
English silver still has great prestige since the British were first to establish the hall of marks for silversmiths in the 16th Century, which assured high quality. Americans adapted the same standards of 925/1000 silver content after the Civil War. Previously, pieces were made from coin with varying silver content.
Brand advantage
Today’s collectors, says Crawford, “still feel comfortable with a brand that they can associate with quality,” such as Jensen.
Also following this trend to honing in on “brand names” is Didier Antiques, a London firm. “Many people, including Americans, buy specific designer’s pieces from me and only seek certain designers’ work,” says owner Didier Haspeslach, who will bring to the fair a large collection of Dresser’s mid-19th Century pieces, including the teapots for which he was famous. Dresser’s trip to Japan in 1876 is credited largely for bringing to the West the Japanesque style of minimalism, still reverberating in Peretti’s designs today. A collaborator of the late 19th Century Tiffany designer Edward C. Moore, Dresser became recognized worldwide for his inventive use of silver, creating Art Deco pieces long before the period took place.
“In the past, the real old school collectors sought out English silver and important 18th Century names,” says Koermer, who admits American silver is beginning to outshine the European.
“In the last five years, American silver, especially Colonial silver, is very much in demand,” she adds. “Tiffany is buying back some of their important pieces and the prices are truly high.”
Twenty-two years ago, he bought the Pueblo Bowl by early 20th Century Tiffany designer Paulding Farnam at Christie’s for $36,000. “Their silver expert called me at home shrieking with delight, saying, you are the world’s biggest idiot” for paying that price, says Loring. Today the Pueblo Bowl is worth $500,000.
“The public has changed their tune in the appreciation of these things,” Loring adds.
As fall-out, the 7-year-old British firm The Silver Fund has risen meteorically to become the largest dealer worldwide in estate or antique Jensen silver. The London-based business recently expanded to New York’s Upper East Side, opening its first U.S. store there.
In demand
The work of the legendary Jensen (1866-1935) is highly sought by seasoned collectors and young brides alike, says Crawford. “Jensen silver, with its spare elegance and high craftsmanship, has always been a favorite of Americans, who are quick to appreciate the modern appeal that won Jensen a worldwide following,” says Crawford. “You can’t beat the designs. They are faultless, unique and timeless. And all Jensen silverware was designed to be practical and the people who buy it use it.”
The Silver Fund will be bringing a mixture of Jensen holloware, “including many pieces you rarely see anymore,” along with a range of flatware.
Jensen silver is very affordable, with good serving pieces in many patterns in the range of $500 to $1,000, says Crawford. But that’s only one incentive to buy it. “In terms of investment, you always want to buy what other people want to buy. Sometimes you love something but you can never sell it. Jensen is popular worldwide.”
How does what one will find in antique silver at this fair compare with what is on eBay?
Crawford says The Silver Fund buys Jensen silver from many sources, “but we don’t spend a lot on eBay. There’s a quantum leap in quality. … This fair is about quality and top offerings from dealers.”
Chicago International Antiques & Fine Art Fair
What: An exhibition that incorporates the Antiquarian Book Fair and Prints/Chicago and brings together more than 100 of the world’s leading dealers of rare antiques and fine art.A wide array of antiques, including furniture, paintings, jewelry, silver, ceramics, Asian designs, clocks, fine prints and rare books, will be exhibited and sold.
Where: The Merchandise Mart, Wells and Kinzie Streets
When: April 26 through 29
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. April 26, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 27, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 28, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 29.
Highlights:
– Preview party: From 6:30 to 9 p.m. April 25, an elegant party and benefit for the Women’s Board of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago offers guests the opportunity to shop the fair before its opening.A Connoisseur Reception begins at 5 p.m. with a guest appearance by John Loring, design director for Tiffany & Co. and author of the new book, “Magnificent Tiffany Silver” (Abrams, $60). Proceeds from the evening will benefit the Women’s Board of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.Call 312-238-6023.
– Friday cocktail party: A cocktail reception on the show floor from 6 to 8 p.m. is included in the admission on April 26. Highlight is a lecture by Tiffany & Co. vice president Cathy Elward.
– Program series: In addition to the exhibition, there will be free one-hour lectures by antiques experts each afternoon. Participating dealers also will give 30-minute booth talks.
– Tiffany silver loan exhibition: The “Magnificent Tiffany Silver” loan exhibition will feature a wide range of Tiffany silver.
Cost: $12 per day; students with ID, half-price.
For more info: Call 800-677-6278 or visit the Web site www.merchandisemart.com.
— Mary Daniels
On the auction block
Susanin’s auctionSmart.com, 138 Merchandise Mart, Wells and Kinzie Streets, holds an auction today of decorative art and silver, including Tiffany & Co. sterling silver coffee pot, sterling silver flatware, candelabra and silverplate tea and coffee servers. The auction starts at 11 a.m.; items can be previewed an hour before the auction opens.
Another silver auction at Susanin’s is scheduled for June 16. A highlight is an American sterling silver tea and coffee service. Regular preview hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays, 10 to 11 a.m. Sundays; the auction starts at 11 a.m. For more information, call 312-832-9800.
— Mary Daniels
