Editor Reviews:

Product Description:
Silversmiths to the Nation: Thomas Fletcher and Sidney Gardiner, 1808-1842 presents the first in-depth study of the celebrated silversmiths and their magnificent work. The firm these men established in Boston (1808-11) and Philadelphia (1811-42) revolutionised the significance of silver in America as a medium of public appreciation and introduced a new era in silver production. The grand presentation pieces Fletcher & Gardiner created for the heroes of the War of 1812 are without equal. These objects have no American precedent in their scale, patriotic imagery, and fabrication. The everyday household and personal silver the firm produced in abundance as well - from teapots to jewellery - spoke to the needs of an upwardly mobile class in the early 1800s. Indeed, the Fletcher & Gardiner manufactory was the Tiffany of its day. Some 100 works from the firm have been located and are included in this lavishly illustrated volume. Many are from private collections and are published for the first time. A

Rating : - ARTISTRY THAT ASTOUNDS
How often do we visit a museum and admire beautifully wrought pieces of period silver? The intricate detailing is amazing and we glance at the date - early 19th century. We're in awe, wondering how such work could have been accomplished at that point in time. If this is the case, chances are good we're appreciating the skills of Thomas Fletcher & Sidney Gardiner.

The pair founded their firm in 1808 Boston, and moved to Philadelphia some three years later. Today we think of Tiffany, at that time it was Fletcher & Gardiner, premier silversmiths who flourished until 1842. They revolutionized public appreciation of silver, and made it available not only in elegant presentation pieces but also for personal use.

Their artistry astounds on a pitcher boasting sculpted lion-paw feet and a hinged lid where again sculpture is employed to create a serpent, a dog head, and a dolphin. All of which, as is noted, "figured importantly in classical art." The base of this particular piece is "ornamented with borders and panels of vegetal decoration."

There is a sauceboat with a curved handle "terminating with a female mask." In commemoration of the sinking of a Britain's Guerriere off Newfoundland's coast on August 19, 1812, the firm created the "heaviest, tallest, and most complex work in silver ever produced in North America." It is grand and perfectly captured in a full page photograph, only one of 300 illustrations in this handsome volume.

Also included are working drawings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is a rare book and a joy not only for collectors, scholars, and curators but for all who find pleasure in beauty.

- Gail Cooke