The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum presents “Designing Innovation: The Gorham Manufacturing Company, American Silver 1850-1970,” an exhibition celebrating one of the largest producers of sterling silver in the United States. The show will open to the public on May 3, 2019 and run through Sept. 22, 2019.
Courtesy RISDM
Neptune Epergne and Plateau (1872 and 1876) by Gorham Manufacturing Company at the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, R.I.
Between 1850 to 1970, the Providence, R.I.–based company created “everything from public presentation pieces to one-of-a-kind showstoppers for use in the private dining rooms of America,” according to a RISD press release. The objects on show will exhibit ways in which Gorham utilized pioneering manufacturing methods during this 150-year period by embracing mechanization within its production facilities as well as “cultural and social factors impacting the market, and the trajectory of the design process from idea to object,” according to a RISD faculty preview description.
Courtesy RISDM
Writing Table and Chair (1903) by Gorham Manufacturing Company at the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, R.I.
RISD currently owns the largest collection of objects from Gorham, which will be on display at “Designing Innovation.” This exhibition is set to be the first Gorham exhibition in nearly 30 years.