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A work made of silver with ivory.

Covered Compote

1926

Designed by Erik Magnussen (American, born Denmark, 1884–1961) Gorham Manufacturing Company (American, founded 1831, part of Lenox since 2005) Providence

Providence

Danish-born Erik Magnussen’s early pieces for Gorham reflect the stylized vegetal and foliate motifs popularized in the United States by his countryman Georg Jensen. Nonetheless, Magnussen realized that “America demands something plainer, something vitally characteristic.” As a result, by 1926 his designs stressed simplicity, function, and opulent materials. A writer for Good Furniture Magazine acknowledged this trend: “He has developed an American style—a style that is plain, dignified, pure of line, and yet with an indefinable touch of the new, modern feeling.”

Silver with ivory

Drinking and Dining

Arts of the Americas