Gorham’s “Martelé” Silver Inkstand

An example of Art Nouveau design, this inkstand shows a strong Japanese aesthetic.

• Design: The inkstand’s form is fluid and organic, with the base representing a marshy landscape with rippling water and stylized foliage. The asymmetrical and naturalistic motifs are hallmarks of the Art Nouveau style. The presence of water lilies and foliage enhances the serene, marshland theme.
• Surface: The surface of the silver is hand-hammered, a technique that gives it a beautiful, textured, and subtly reflective quality. This is the defining characteristic of the “Martelé” line, which is named after the French word for “to hammer” (marteler). This hammering makes each piece a unique work of art.

Marks

The marks on the underside are a definitive set of hallmarks for Gorham’s “Martelé” silver.

• “Martelé”: This mark confirms that the piece belongs to the exclusive, hand-wrought line that was Gorham’s crowning achievement in Art Nouveau.
• The Eagle Mark: This is a key part of the “Martelé” hallmark. The eagle mark, shown perched on top of the standard Gorham lion-anchor-G mark, was specifically used for the Martelé line. It was designed to signify the line’s exceptional quality and its higher-than-sterling silver fineness.
• “9684”: This is the design or production number. Every piece of Martelé was individually numbered and cataloged in the Gorham ledgers. This number can often be used to research the piece’s specific details, such as the date it was made, the designer, and the amount of time it took to produce.
• “PTB”: These are the monogrammed initials of a customer. It’s common for high-end silver from this period to be monogrammed, and it doesn’t detract from the value of such a rare and unique piece.

Where and When It Was Made

• Manufacturer: Gorham Manufacturing Company, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
• Date: The Martelé line was produced from 1897 to the late 1920s, but its most significant period was the decade leading up to the 1900 Paris Exposition, where it won the Grand Prix and cemented Gorham’s reputation as a world-class silver manufacturer. Given the strong Art Nouveau and Japanese influences, your inkstand was likely made between 1897 and 1910.

The “Martelé” line was created as a direct response to the Arts and Crafts movement’s emphasis on handcraftsmanship and a rejection of mass production. It was a high-risk, high-reward project for Gorham, and the pieces are considered the pinnacle of American silversmithing of that era.