Gorham Silver Sold at Auction Prices

The roots of the Gorham Manufacturing company began in 1831 when Jabez Gorham joined Henry L. Webster to form the company Gorham & Webster (1831-1837). Over time the firm had various name changes as new partnerships were formed. In 1890 The Gorham Company moved to Providence, Rhode Island when staff employed exceeded 500 individuals and produced outstanding sterling dinnerware, hollow ware, jewelry and many other crafted silver through the nineteenth well into the twentieth centuries. The Company at its peak was the largest silver manufacturing enterprise in the World, with retail showrooms on 5th Ave. in New York City. It attracted from around the world some of the most talented designers in the silversmiths’ art. It also received a large portion of World renown through prizes awarded at international expositions. The factory buildings located at Elmwood, Rhode Island produced hammered silver called martelé that was magnificently wrought and distinctively different from any other line of silversmithing in the Art Nouveau style. Gorham also made and marked cast statuary bronzes for well-known sculptors such as Cyrus E. Dallin of Arlington, Massachusetts. By the mid twentieth century production by this immense company became diversified and ownership was directed towards technology rather than art. The hallmark of Gorham usually carries an anchor within a shield flanked by smaller touch marks displaying on the left a lion and on the right a letter “G”.