Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
For nearly 160 years, the Gorham Manufacturing Company turned out a wide range of beautiful silver flatware, tea sets, serving bowls and other silver pieces, indelibly influencing the field of decorative arts in ways that still resonate.
When silversmiths Jabez Gorham and Henry Webster started making coin silver teaspoons and jewelry out of a small workshop in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1831, the pair likely had no idea that their modest operation would one day become the largest silver manufacturer in the world.
While some name changes and personnel shifts preceded the foundry officially being established as Gorham Manufacturing Company decades later, growth of the business between its early days and the mid–19th century can largely be attributed to the work of Jabez’s son John, who assumed control of Gorham in the 1840s.
John Gorham introduced steam power at the manufactory. He entered into a partnership with Michael Gibney, the first American silversmith to register a design patent for a flatware pattern. Gorham wanted to expand the business, seeking to produce forks and spoons adorned with decorative flourishes adapted from British patterns. The company hammered out the silver flatware, which it sent to Gibney in New York to apply decorative patterns before returning to Gorham. Consequently, Gorham found Gibney’s work unsatisfactory, and he purchased his own rolling press to do the work himself.
The partnership between John and Michael soured but the company thrived. Sales grew to more than $20,000 per year, and the staff of silversmiths expanded. To keep up with demand, Gorham had to retire its horse-powered rolling press and import a steam-powered drop press from England — the first used in the United States. Designs created at Gorham drew on natural-world motifs as well as artistic traditions from all over the world — alongside its tableware, the company would soon be producing cups and pitchers adorned with polar bears and forest creatures, while tea services and other serving pieces were crafted in a range of styles that included Art Nouveau, Egyptian Revival and Rococo.
Around 1860, Gorham delved into bronze casting. When it opened a division dedicated to bronze work, Gorham collaborated with sculptors such as Daniel Chester French, Anna Hyatt Huntington and Alexander P. Proctor.
By the 1920s, Gorham had employed thousands of workers and had partnered with Danish modernist silversmith Erik Magnussen. However, the Great Depression ground production to a halt. The company was sold to Textron, Inc. in the late 1960s and it changed hands several times before it sold to Department 56 in 2005.
Today, the work of Gorham Manufacturing Company continues to be exhibited in galleries and museums. The RISD Museum in Providence houses a collection of nearly 5,000 works.
On 1stDibs, find a range of antique Gorham Manufacturing Company serveware and decorative objects.
1890s American Antique Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
20th Century American Art Deco Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
Late 19th Century American Art Nouveau Antique Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
20th Century American Retro Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
19th Century American Empire Antique Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Silver
20th Century Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century European Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary British Artisan Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Tourmaline, Sterling Silver
Late 20th Century American Contemporary Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century Unknown Art Deco Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century Unknown Retro Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
1910s Unknown Edwardian Vintage Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Silver Plate
1950s Mexican Vintage Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
1990s French Contemporary Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
20th Century Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
20th Century Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century American Edwardian Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century American Modernist Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
20th Century American Victorian Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
1920s American Art Deco Vintage Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Amethyst, Diamond, Platinum
20th Century American Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
20th Century American Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
1940s American Vintage Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
1940s American Vintage Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
Late 19th Century American Victorian Antique Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
Late 19th Century American Victorian Antique Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
20th Century American Edwardian Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
20th Century American Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
Sterling Silver
20th Century American Gorham Manufacturing Company Jewelry & Watches
14k Gold