One of the most significant discoveries from our earlier years was a rare sterling silver covered form designed by Erik Magnussen for Gorham, found during an estate we conducted over fourteen years ago. It represents the level of connoisseurship that continues to define our work today, where we regularly handle important jewelry, silver, and decorative arts in the five-figure range and beyond.

At first glance it was easy to misplace in period. The form was unlike traditional Gorham production, and the die-struck mark beneath the standard hallmarks did not correspond to any familiar pattern or catalog reference. That mark continued to stand out, and when it was finally matched in our reference library and identified as Erik Magnussen, the importance of the object became immediately clear. What initially appeared to be an unusual covered form revealed itself as a rare work from one of the most significant design movements in American decorative arts, the moment Gorham began competing on an international level with the great European houses and with Georg Jensen.

The craftsmanship is exceptional: a perfectly balanced hand-finished construction, a precision-fit cover, and the sculptural integration of silver and hard-stone. Despite its strength, the piece is remarkably light in the hand, a hallmark of the highest level of early twentieth-century silver design.

When this work was placed with a private collector, it achieved a price of $8,000, a figure that reflects its position in the top tier of American Art Deco silver and one that would be significantly higher in today’s market. Works from this period by Erik Magnussen for Gorham are now represented in major museum collections. Discoveries such as this are exactly what define our approach to every estate we handle: the ability to recognize when an object is not simply silver, but a major example of twentieth-century design.