Narragansett Salad Servers

Throughout the nineteenth century, Gorham Manufacturing Company was one of the leading and most prolific silversmithing firms in the United States. The 1880s was a period of unprecedented creativity and productivity at the company, and in 1884, Gorham introduced a line of silver and gilded silver flatware and smallwares in a pattern titled Narragansett. Named for the Native American tribe indigenous to the coast of Rhode Island and the eponymous inlet on the Rhode Island Sound, Narragansett Bay, the Narragansett wares draw inspiration from the firm’s costal location. Encrusted with shells, fish, crabs, and seaweed cast from natural specimens, these Narragansett salad servers offer an inventive take on the prevailing fascination with Japanese art–particularly Japan’s embrace of naturalistic decoration. As Japanese ports were opened to trade with the West after 1853, American and European consumers clamored for Japanese goods and domestic wares inspired by Japanese designs. By employing meticulously modeled casting molds, the silversmiths at Gorham rendered shells and sea creatures with stunning verisimilitude. The bowl of the spoon appears to have scooped up water from Narragansett Bay along with grains of sand and shells specked with tiny barnacles, and the twisted tines of the fork resemble supple strands of kelp. Surviving casting patterns from Gorham reveal that the firm devised clever ways to facilitate producing the large number of different cast elements used in Narragansett flatware. By attaching multiple iterations of identical forms on a multi-pronged support, many small-scale elements could be cast at once. These salad servers would not have been comfortable to hold or easy to use. Yet, they would have been prized features of grand meals in lavish homes. They attest to the status, taste, and sophistication of their owner while also showcasing the creativity and technical virtuosity of the artisans working at Gorham.