  About the Artwork
  
  
  Codman was chief designer of Gorham Manufacturing Company from 1891 until his
retirement in 1914. In 1896, the company introduced his revolutionary new program to produce a line of handmade silver, called Martelé (hand-hammered) in the Arts and Crafts tradition.
Codman said that the new work was to be “modern art,” and the modern art of 1900 was art nouveau. Thus, he parted company with most of the other American makers of Arts and Crafts silverware. Pieces signed by Codman are rare, though we know he personally designed the entire Martelé line. This voluptuous pitcher, with leaf and undulating lily-of-the-valley motifs, is one of the most important manifestations of art nouveau in America.
  
  
  Title
  Pitcher
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1912
  
  
  
  
  Makers
  
  
  William C. Codman  (Designer)
  American, 1839 - 1921
  Gorham Manufacturing Co.  (Manufacturer)
  American, established 1831
  
  
  
  Medium
  Silver-martele, hammered and chased
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 10 3/4 × 8 × 5 1/8 inches (27.3 × 20.3 × 13 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Silver
  
  
  Department
  American Art before 1950
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase, Mrs. Charles Theron Van Dusen Fund and American Art General Fund
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  1991.134
  
  
  Copyright
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