Estate Peer Smed Sterling Silver Hand Wrought Footed Bowl
A graceful organic design emulating a blooming flower mounted on a simple circular base.
Each flower petal curve upward terminating with life-like curled edge.
Entirely hand raised from one piece of heavy gauge silver displaying hand hammer marks throughout.
Clearly Hallmarked PEER SMED (WITH HAMMER) STERLING, HANDWROUGHT.
Entirely handmade by Peer Smed himself and is a one of a kind.
Peer Smed took commissions in his Brooklyn studio & during his life, produced only a few designs in series.
Circa late 1930’s.
Several of his creations can be found in Museum Collections including the Metropolitan Museum, The Brooklyn Museum, Yale, The Chicago Art Institute and The Dallas Museum of Art.
**Peer Smed (born Peer Schmidt) was born in 1878 in Copenhagen, the son of a blacksmith. He became an expert metalcrafter and produced objects somewhat in the Jensen style but with characteristic touches that clearly marked them as his. Smed designed household pieces for the royal families of Denmark and Sweden, who awarded him medals for artistry.
In 1909 Smed emigrated to the United States where he started his own art studio at 176 Johnson St., in Brooklyn, NY. Smed worked there for the rest of his life, creating handmade objects in a variety of different metals. His obituary spoke of his honors “as a gold carver, a silversmith and as a designer of iron grilles.” He was also proficient in copper and bronze.
During his lifetime, he exhibited his work at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and galleries in New York and San Francisco. Smed produced the elaborate doors designed by William Zorach for the entrance to the Schwarzenbach Building in New York City, and created silver designs for Tiffany and Company. He fashioned decorative iron work for several New York restaurants, as well as designs for the homes of Lucius M. Boomer, former managing director of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, and William Knudsen, CEO of General Motors. In conjunction with the well-known designer William Stark, he created the flatware and holloware for the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in 1932. His work is currently held in the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago as well as several private galleries and collections around the country.
Excerpt taken from Chicago Silver.
Designer: Peer Smed
Maker: Peer Smed
Circa: 1930’s
Dimensions: 9" W x 4" H
Weight: 516g
Country of Origin: USA
INV. #: NG24048
