ECCLESIASTICAL DEPT.: GORHAM SILVER CATALOG/ RARE 1914

A nice First Edition copy of this very scarce and fascinating large illustrated catalog filled with black and white pictures of hundreds of designs fur silver pieces used in churches. Gorham was the pre-eminent silver-smith companies in America, producing fine silverware, and other silver items. The items portrayed in this big book are striking and finely made. This book is solid and complete and in nice condition. Published nearly 100 years ago, this book is now long out of print and it is very scarce. There is only one other copy of this book listed for sale on the internet, worldwide, a waterdamaged book priced $110. This book should be more valuable.  Such a nice copy is not likely to come up for sale again soon on ebay. 

From the Introduction: "Many of Gorham's customers who (like their parents and grandparents before them) have bought Gorham silver all their lives do not know that this long-established house has a special department for designing and making the various articles required for the use or adornment of churches.

"The visitor at the Fifth Avenue store will find that The Gorham Company is prepared to supply the artistic requirements of any church, from the smallest chapel to the largest cathedral in the land. It is surprising into what varied fields the natural growth of a great firm like Gorham's will lead. Twenty-nine years ago this firm (shortly to round out a full century's existence) began to make silver Communion Sets for churches. From that has grown the big and comprehensive Ecclesiastical Department of today.

"This branch of the business is in the hands of men who have grown up in it and made it their life study. The artists are men who have adopted ecclesiastical art as their life work. They are the foremost men in America in this branch of art. Their work is executed with reverence and sympathy.

"The Gorham Company can equip a church throughout. Their designers cooperate with the architect in planning the interior fittings and details, thus combining practical experience with purely artistic training, resulting in the enduring beauty of the church edifice.

"A feature of the Gorham business is the conversion of family and personal heirlooms of gold, silver, and jewels into memorials for church use. The production of this department may be purchased from any of the leading jewelers."  

Illustrations include: Alms boxes; Altar candlesticks, crosses, desks, gates, vases; Baptismal bowls and fonts; Candelabra; Chalices; Collection plates; Communion sets; Crosses; Desks; Ewers; Fonts; Gates; Hymnals; Lecturns; Mission sets; Prayer books; Pulpits; Screens; Spoons; Stained glass windows; Tablets; Vases; Weights.

According to wikipedia: "The Gorham Manufacturing Company is an American manufacturer of sterling and silverplate. Gorham silver was founded in Providence, Rhode Island 1831 by Jabez Gorham[1], a master craftsman, in partnership with Henry L. Webster[2]. The firm's chief product was spoons of coin silver. The company also made thimbles, combs, jewelry, and other small items. In 1842, a tariff which effectively blocked the importation of silverware from outside the United States was passed, which aided the American silver industry. Jabez Gorham did not take full advantage of this opportunity, but in 1847 Jabez retired and his son, John Gorham[3], succeeded him as head of the company. John Gorham introduced mechanized production methods, enlarged the premises in downtown Providence, improved the designs, and expanded the product line. In 1852 Gorham toured many of Europe's silver workshops and manufacturers, speaking with individual specialists, including master craftsmen and toolmakers. He also sought out highly skilled foreign workmen to train his American workers. George Wilkinson, a premier designer and workshop manager, was hired from England. During the heyday of American silver manufacturing, approximately 1850 - 1940, Gorham was highly influential.In 1865 a charter was granted by the Rhode Island legislature by the name of "Gorham Manufacturing Company".In 1890 the company relocated to a factory on Adelaide Avenue in Providence.In 1895 the famed Gorham designer, William C. Codman, designed Chantilly, which has become the most famous of Gorham's flatware patterns. Matching holloware has been made in both sterling and silverplate....The White House has used Gorham silver services during many administrations. Mary Todd Lincoln purchased an impressive tea and flatware service for use in the White House in 1859. The tea service was presented to the National Museum of American History in 1957.[4] Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant asked Gorham to commemorate the country's one-hundredth anniversary with a spectacular Century Vase that contained over 2,000 ounces of sterling silver, and a grand "loving cup" composed of 70,000 dimes was designed for Admiral George Dewey in 1899. The largest single commission Gorham ever received was the famous Furber service. Ordered by Colonel Henry Jewett Furber, the president of Universal Life Insurance Company of New York, the opulent 740-piece service represents Victorian era dining at its most elaborate. The monumental silver and parcel-gilt "Neptune" epergne made for Furber as part of this service was displayed at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876. A large portion of the service now can be viewed at the Rhode Island School of Design[5] as part of its exhibit on American decorative arts.The George W. Bush family chose Gorham's Chantilly as the flatware service on Air Force One..."

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Large Quarto - sized hardcover book; 187 pages of text and hundreds of illustrations. Good+ condition book: no torn or missing pages; no writing or markings in the text; name on ffep: "A. W. White". Original binding, with fraying to corners and edges. A solid and attractive copy of this scarce book.

Please look through my other auction listings- I have listed many scarce and unusual books this week on ebay. Please bid on more than one book, because I will be happy to reduce shipping costs for multiple purchases. Media mail postage within the United States would be $4 for this item and $1 for each additional book. International bids welcomed, international airmail postage $25; Canadian airmail postage $15.