Lot 305: PORTER BLANCHARD

PORTER BLANCHARD A FINE AND RARE "COMMONWEALTH" FLATWARE SERVICE each stamped PORTER BLANCHARD and STERLING and each engraved to reverse Abna Linden comprising 12 dinner forks, 12 dinner knives, 12 dinner spoons, 11 luncheon forks, 12 luncheon knives, 12 luncheon spoons, 12 ice cream forks, 12 butter knives, 12 fish forks, 12 soup spoons, 12 dessert forks, 12 demitasse spoons, 11 serving spoons, small ladle, asparagus server, cake server, fish fork, and carving fork and knife. 160 pieces. silver and stainless steel circa 1930

L. Stanley Grohs, The Renaissance of an Ancient Art, S & G. Gump Company, 1930, p. 32
"California Creates," House Beautiful, November 1934, p. 36
Helen Johnson Keyes, "Contemporary American Silver," Christian Science Monitor, Boston, May 1, 1937, p.6 (for a discussion of this pattern)
Stephen N. Dennis, "Arts and Crafts Silver for the Historic House," Historic Houses, February 1982, p. 7
Leslie Greene Bowman, "Arts and Crafts Silversmiths: Friedell and Blanchard in Southern California," Silver in the Golden State, Oakland, 1986, p. 54
Rosalie and Bob Dannenbaum, "The Blanchard Tradition in Hand Wrought Silver," West Coast Peddler, August 1989, p. 25
Jewel Stern, "Striking the Modern Note in Metal," Craft in the Machine Age, 1920-1945, New York, 1995, p. 125

Dennis Boses, Los Angeles
Collection of John P. Axelrod, Boston

Sotheby's would like to thank Jewel Stern for her assistance in cataloguing this lot.


"During the 1980's, when Fifty/50 was in its heyday, I was at a distinct disadvantage when it came to acquiring their best works. Not only was I not in New York, but I also had to compete with one Mr. John Waddell, who I always suspected was the "secret fourth partner" of the gallery. Completely trustworthy, especially when it comes to authenticity and provenance, Mark McDonald is a gentleman and a scholar."
-John P. Axelrod, Boston