Gorham Martele .950 Silver Coffee Service 1898/99 68 ozs

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Gorham Martele .950 Silver Coffee Service 1898/99 68 ozs

About the Item

Being offered is fine four piece Martele 950/1000 silver coffee set with tray by Gorham of Providence, RI, and retailed by Spaulding & Co., Chicago, comprising a black coffee pot, cream jug and sugar bowl, each baluster form, chased with flowers, the coffee pot with ivory insulators, the cream jug and sugar bowl with gilt interiors, the tray shaped oval, with upcurved edges, engraved with monogram FKD, each marked on reverse, the service marked 1411, the tray 1410, dated 1899 and 1898 respectively, each marked in oval for samples, the three-piece service also marked Spaulding & Co, Chicago. Dimensions: coffee pot 11 in. (27.5 cm.) high; the tray 15¾ in. (39.4 cm.) long; 68 oz. (2,126 gr.) gross weight (4). In excellent condition (some scratches on tray as would be expected). This is an early desireable Martele set. Provenance The Kennett-Dupee Gorham Martele black coffee service was acquired by the present owner about 1999 in Summerland, California, on consignment from Evelyn Walter Dupee (b. 1903), the daughter of Agnes Florence Kennett Dupee Burnham (1876-1971) and Walter Hamlin Dupee (b. 1874). The service was retailed by Spaulding & Co. in Chicago, and purchased as a wedding gift to Florence Kennett for the occasion of her November 7, 1900 marriage to Walter Hamlin Dupee. Mrs. Dupee’s monogram “FKD” (Florence Kennett Dupee) is found on all four pieces in the set. The Kennetts and Dupees were both prominent Chicago families and both Florence and Walter were listed in the 1899 Social Register. Florence Kennett was the daughter of Francis Julian Kennett and Ella Frances (Fanny) Durand. The Kennetts and Durands were descended from early Colonial residents of Maryland and Connecticut. Two Durand ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War *. Florence Kennett’s father was a principal in the firm, Hopkins, Kennett & Co., a member of the Chicago Board of Trade. Florence was one of 5 children. Florence’s three brothers attended Yale. Florence’s sister, Edith, married Frederick Holbrook Rawson, later Chairman of First National Bank of Chicago and funder of Admiral Byrd’s expeditions to Antarctica. Byrd named Antarctica’s Rawson Mountains after his benefactor. (* See Genealogy of Durand, Whalley, Barnes & Yale Families, Chicago 1912) Florence Kennett married Walter Hamlin Dupee, who was of French ancestry. His family had moved to America in the second half of the 18th Century. Mr. Dupee was a grain and stock broker, working with the firm of Schwartz-Dupee & Co, another member of the Board of Trade, which had been founded in 1883 by his father, John Dupee. Walter Hamlin Dupee later was a partner in the Chicago firm of C. G. Gates & Co. in Chicago. Walter Hamlin Dupee retired from commerce in 1907 when the Gates firm dissolved. Mr. and Mrs. Dupee moved to California in 1908, where they purchased Crown Manor, a Tudor style house built in 1902 and located at 1015 Ocean Blvd in Coronado. In 1914, Mrs. Dupee added the east and south wings to Crown Manor to provide housing for the many servants required for her frequent entertaining. The house had 27 bedrooms and was the largest private residence in Coronado. After the purchase in 1913 of Edgemoor Farm in Santee, California, Walter Hamlin Dupee raised polo ponies and imported Guernsey dairy cattle. There, he built the Edgemoor Polo Barn, a National Historic Register Landmark, to house his ponies. Mr. Dupee was recognized as the owner of one of the finest stables of polo ponies in the U.S., at one time numbering 45. He played in many national and international matches, was Captain of the Coronado Polo Team and donor of the Dupee Cup. He is credited with a large role in creating enthusiasm for polo on the Pacific Coast. [The New York Times of March 4, 1912, reported that Walter Dupee lost his favorite polo pony, Dolly, to Lord Tweedmouth, a renowned English polo player, in a wager at a party at the Coronado Hotel. Mr. Dupee wagered that Lord Tweedmouth could not walk up or down the 30 stairs to the hall on his hands. After two failures at walking up the stairs, Lord Tweedmouth succeeded in so walking down the stairs. ] Mrs. Dupee in 1932 married George Burnham (1868-1939) a banker and Republican politician, who was the U.S. Congressman from the 20th District of California from 1933- 1937. Later, Mrs. Burnham sold Crown Manor and moved to Bel Air. Mrs. Burnham and her sister-in-law, Isabella (wife of Luther Martin Kennett, a Yale Drama School graduate who in 1937 became Director of the San Diego Community Theatre), were both longtime friends of the Duchess of Windsor. In February 1920, Florence Dupee’s home in Coronado was the setting for the 150-guest wedding of Rhoda Fullam, daughter of Real Admiral W.F. Fullam, to Raymond Welch, at which the Duchess of Windsor (then Mrs. E. Winfield Spencer, wife of the former Commandant of the North Island Naval Base) served as a bridesmaid. In March 1956, a christening ceremony was held in New York for Kennett Longley Rawson, Jr., grandson of Florence’s sister, Edith Kennett Rawson. The Duchess held the baby, while the Duke of Windsor, the godfather, read the responses. Among those present was great aunt Florence Kennett Dupee Burnham. Mrs. Dupee Burnham was active in philanthropy in San Diego County. In 1917, Florence Dupee was a founding Director and member of the Executive Board of the San Diego Opera Festival, an organization promoted by Mme. Ernestine Schumann-Heink, which failed to come into full existence because of WWI. Florence Dupee Burnham provided the funds in 1934 to redecorate and enlarge Florence Burnham Hall, a meeting facility of the Girl Scouts of San Diego. She was a Member of the Society of Colonial Dames of America Resident in California.

Materials and Techniques:
Sterling Silver
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
19th Century
Date of Manufacture:
1898/99
Condition:
Excellent, Hand Chased.
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: U1207018558746