Urns for heroes: this book on Fletcher and Gardiner fills a major gap in our knowledge of American silver

Apollo, April, 2008 by Martin Chasin

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Silversmiths to the Nation: Thomas Fletcher and Sidney Gardiner, 1808-1842

DONALD L. FENNIMORE AND ANNE K. WAGNER

Antique Collectors' Club Ltd, 45/$95 [pounds sterling]

ISBN 9781851495436

Much has been written about American colonial silver and silver production after 1850. However, little enough exists on the production of silver in the early years of the republic. This volume fulfills a dual need: the gap in our knowledge about silver production and marketing, and a full study of the most prominent manufactory of the era. In addition, it is also the catalogue of what is--surprisingly--the first exhibition of Fletcher and Gardiner's work.

Thomas Fletcher was born in Alstead, New Hampshire on 3 April 1787 and grew up in Boston, where he entered trade as a merchant in the establishment of Joseph C. Dyer. Sidney Gardiner, born on 23 July 1787, came from Mattituck, Long Island. He migrated to Boston, where his family had long-standing connections. In 1803 the two men, then in their teens, formed a partnership that comprised silversmithing and selling fancy hardware at 43 Marlboro Street. This lasted until 1810, when they decided to move to Philadelphia, since, in Fleteher's words, the partnership 'rec[eive]d the most cordial hatred and opposition from every member of the craft' in Boston. Philadelphia possessed twice the population of Boston, three times the commercial activity and was the centre of the precious-metal trade. From 1794 it was the location of the us Mint and then of the First Bank of the United States. Fletcher and Gardiner's move was to be a great success.

The victories achieved by Americans in the War of 1812 were commemorated by cities, towns and various organisations commissioning tributes in silver. Fletcher and Gardiner revolutionised the use of silver and gold in the production of these tributes. They made objects in a truly monumental size, and their use of patriotic symbols and the high quality of the workmanship had no precedent in America. The urn fabricated to commemorate the victory of Isaac Hull commanding the frigate Constitution over the British frigate Guerriere off Cape Race, Newfoundland on 19 August 1812 caused a sensation in Philadelphia--thousands came to view it (it is reproduced on the front of this book's jacket). The partnership's fame spread and orders came in from other parts of the United States. Indeed, an urn now replaced a bowl or a trophy cup as the form deemed suitable to honour a hero.

Fletcher handled the management and marketing while Gardiner concentrated on the silversmithing. Fletcher visited Great Britain and Europe in 1815 seeking sources of supply for the partnership's fused plated pieces and to study style. Like his English contemporaries he sought artistic inspiration in the forms and decorative elements of antiquity. English silver production had replaced the traditional craft techniques with manufacturing processes that Fletcher observed and brought back to Philadelphia.

The partnership's designs were greatly influenced by English forms and the quality of what they produced was equal to the best pieces being made in England. Their business now included jewellery, swords and the design and manufacture of the Imperial Order for Mexico. They continued to produce a wide range of silver for domestic use, which is well represented in the catalogue and the exhibition. Gardiner died in Mexico in 1826 but the authors carry the story down to Fletcher's death in 1866.

The volume consists of six essays and an illustrated and fully documented catalogue of the exhibition. Cathy Matson's discussion of Philadelphia in the early republic explains the firm's move there. Deborah Dependahl Waters provides an important chapter on the city's precious-metal trade, thereby filling a gap in our knowledge of the American silver trade. This volume and the exhibition had their genesis in Donald Fennimore's thesis in the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture in Wilmington, Delaware. Ann Wagner also completed her thesis there on the firm's presentation silver. Both contribute three chapters on the lives of these two men, the artistic inspiration they drew from works of antiquity and their role as arbiters of taste. Beth Carver Wees contributes an illuminating chapter on their design drawings for swords and hollowware.

The catalogue fully discusses every object in the exhibition and provides a photograph of each work. It is a magnificent collection. Winterthur is to be congratulated on organising and sponsoring this important volume and exhibition, both of which are important contributions to the history of silver in the early years of the United States.

Martin Chasin is the owner of Martin Chasin Fine Arts, specialising in antique silver and British sporting art. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the American secretary of the Friends of British Sporting Art. 'Silversmiths to the Nation: Thomas Fletcher and Sidney Gardiner (1808-1842)' is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, until 4 May and at Winterthur Museum, DE, 4 July to 21 September.