The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1912-04-12
GEORGE NJ, CURTIS
GIVES fine TALK
ON EARLY SILVER

A large audience enjoyed an inter
esting and comprehensive talk on THE
Early Silver Of Connecticut" which
was delivered by George NJ Curtis.
treasurer of the International Silver
Co., in Meriden the other evening. The
speaker said in part:
ITO those who are lovers Of old
, plate and have become familiar with
the various shapes and designs cha1-
acteristfc of Colonial days, it is inter-
esting to note the slow evolution and
gradual change in church and domes-
tic silver from the simple and yet
beautiful vessels OF the seventeenth
century to the more elaborate forms
and greater variety of articles of the
eighteenth century, which the grow
ing luxury and more complex life of
! the later period demanded.
Judging from the examples that
have survived, silver utensils of the
seventeenth century were limited to
! spoons. the candle cup, the beaker.
the chalice or standing cup, wine tast-
ers, the tankard, the fagon and a few
trinkets.
In the eighteenth century the colo
become more formal and luxury more
common. AS result the silver
smith had increased the variety of his
manufactures and used more elabo-
rate designs, although he still chung
! to simplicity of line and form that
was characteristic Of all early indus
trial art in America.
1.-THE knowledge that America had
silver smiths during the Colonial Pc
Rod came as a complete surprise and
| revelation to most Of those who were
so fortunate as to see the splendid ex-
amples Of their work exhibited at the
Museum of Fine Arts In Boston in 1906.
no ~ n
skill to their English rivals cannot
perhaps be claimed in every respect,
on account Of the lack of demand
for highly forid ornamentation. but 1t
may be safely stated that American
silver smiths produced wares that for
beauty of shape. sense Of proportion
and purity Of line were not surpassed
in England, and, il occasion demand
ed, elaborate ornamentation In most
decorative designs was fully within
the grasp Of American worlmen."
In speaking of the early church sill
great interest, not only on account of
it's beauty and Quaintness, but also
because of it's association and history.
Nothing brings US into more intimate
touch with our forefathers. Gener-
alton after generation of the sturdy
Connecticut stock have hallowed 1t by
the most religious act of their lives,
The beakers, caudle cups and tank
ards were frequently in domestic use
hefore they were presented to the
churches, the. offe-ing of devout Chris
tian men and women.
I'm private HAMS among the old
families of the state a considerable
quantity of old plate remains, but the
great bulk Of it has disappeared for
ever, the most of it consigned to the
melting pot to issue thence in modern
forms of nondescript styles, or no style
at all. The temperance movement in
the early part of the last century Is
responsible for the disappearance Of
quantities of old plate. Many of the
old porringers, tankards and cans
were transformed into spoons and
forks by our own local craftsmen, of
whom Hartford and New Haven had
so many. But of all causes for the
disappearance of old plate, none was
equal to the feeling that the good old
silver utensils of the forefathers were
old fashioned. 1t is the same subtle
influence which banished, to garrets,
and outhouses the beautiful furniture
Of the same period, and gave aus in
exchange the Empire styles and the
mid century products of the so-called
furniture butchers
The speaker closed his remarks with
short history on men prominent in
the silver making industry in Con-
necticut