| IntroductionAntique American silver has attracted collectors because its design isrestrained and the quality of workmanship is consistently high. Withonly a few glaring exceptions, the statement is as true of later workas of that produced before 183o, suggesting that the same estheticstandard was followed late as early. Since a working definition ofthe word antique today is anything used decoratively that is not incurrent production, collectors have discovered that fine silver wasmade relatively recently as well as in colonial times. No matterwhat the fashion of a given period has dictated, American de-signers have tempered their work with appropriate restraint. Whentradng the history of American silver designs it is possible to seehow international fashions were adapted to American use and how,despite the variety of design between 165o and 194o, there is arecognizable American approach. Collecting silver is inspired at least partly by the fact that it is aprecious metal. For some this means that their investment is safe;others find an element of romance in the fact that there is value inthe raw material. They know that the best craftsmen of any erahave applied their talents to shaping, engraving, or embossing pre-cious metals. Silver had been second only to gold in value and re-served, along with gold, for fashioning particularly fine objects in-tended essentially for display. The craftsman who worked silver |
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