Norman Rockwell Gorham Spring Duet Porcelain Ceramic Childrens Plate/dish+bowl

the pair
i can find no issues. only ever displayed. the matching set is finished in gold. depicting a boy in playing the flute for a girl. surrounded by absolutely adorable animals captivated by the music. the dish is 7 1/2" in diamater and that gold-finished rim is 3/4" away from the surface on which the plate rests. the bowl has a diameter of 5" and is 1 1/2" tall. signed on the from with «norman rockwell». the reverse provides the remainder of the information. (see last image.)
«spring duet»
norman rockwell
america's best loved artist
[gorham logo]
fine china
captures the warm and tender feelings of youth
about norman rockwell
(from: nrm.org/about/about-2/about-norman-rockwell/)
without thinking too much about it in specific terms, i was showing the america i knew and observed to others who might not have noticed.
~ norman rockwell
born in new york city in 1894, norman rockwell always wanted to be an artist. at age 14, rockwell enrolled in art classes at the new york school of art (formerly the chase school of art). two years later, in 1910, he left high school to study art at the national academy of design. he soon transferred to the art students league, where he studied with thomas fogarty and george bridgman. fogarty's instruction in illustration prepared rockwell for his first commercial commissions. from bridgman, rockwell learned the technical skills on which he relied throughout his long career.
rockwell found success early. he painted his first commission of four christmas cards before his sixteenth birthday. while still in his teens, he was hired as art director of
boys' life
, the official publication of the boy scouts of america, and began a successful freelance career illustrating a variety of young people's publications.
at age 21, rockwell's family moved to new rochelle, new york, a community whose residents included such famous illustrators as J.C. and frank leyendecker and howard chandler christy. there, rockwell set up a studio with the cartoonist clyde forsythe and produced work for such magazines as
life
,
literary digest
, and
country gentleman
. in 1916, the 22-year-old rockwell painted his first cover for
the saturday evening post
, the magazine considered by rockwell to be the «greatest show window in america». over the next 47 years, another 321 rockwell covers would appear on the cover of the Post. also in 1916, rockwell married irene o'connor; they divorced in 1930.
the 1930s and 1940s are generally considered to be the most fruitful decades of rockwell's career. in 1930 he married mary barstow, a schoolteacher, and the couple had three sons, jarvis, thomas, and peter. the family moved to arlington, vermont, in 1939, and rockwell's work began to reflect small-town american life.
in 1943, inspired by president franklin roosevelt's address to congress, rockwell painted the four freedoms paintings. they were reproduced in four consecutive issues of
the saturday evening post
with essays by contemporary writers. rockwell's interpretations of freedom of speech, freedom to worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear proved to be enormously popular. the works toured the united states in an exhibition that was jointly sponsored by the
post
and the u.s. treasury department and, through the sale of war bonds, raised more than $130 million for the war effort.
although the four freedoms series was a great success, 1943 also brought rockwell an enormous loss. a fire destroyed his arlington studio as well as numerous paintings and his collection of historical costumes and props.
in 1953, the rockwell family moved from arlington, vermont, to stockbridge, massachusetts. six years later, mary barstow rockwell died unexpectedly. in collaboration with his son thomas, rockwell published his autobiography,
my adventures as an illustrator
, in 1960. the Saturday Evening Post carried excerpts from the best-selling book in eight consecutive issues, with rockwell's triple Sself-portrait on the cover of the first.
in 1961, rockwell married molly punderson, a retired teacher. two years later, he ended his 47-year association with
the saturday evening post
and began to work for Look magazine. during his 10-year association with look, rockwell painted pictures illustrating some of his deepest concerns and interests, including civil rights, america's war on poverty, and the exploration of space.
in 1973, rockwell established a trust to preserve his artistic legacy by placing his works in the custodianship of the old corner house stockbridge historical society, later to become norman rockwell museum at stockbridge. the trust now forms the core of the museum's permanent collections. in 1976, in failing health, rockwell became concerned about the future of his studio. he arranged to have his studio and its contents added to the trust. in 1977, rockwell received the nation's highest civilian honor, the presidential medal of freedom. he died peacefully at his home in stockbridge on november 8, 1978, at the age of 84.
in 2008, rockwell was named the official state artist of the commonwealth of massachusetts, thanks to a dedicated effort from students in berkshire county, where rockwell lived for the last 25 years of his life.
about gorham
(from: invaluable.com/blog/gorham-silver/)
from silverware to tea services, antique silver has become a timeless staple of an entertainer's toolkit. over the years, silver manufacturers around the world have introduced a variety of innovative techniques and motifs that have rendered their name in a class of its own. among the most turned-to American makers is gorham silver, a name made famous by landmark commissions for presidential families, major awards, and other prominent projects. but beyond the company's special commissions, gorham's prolific production of tea sets, serving trays, candelabra, napkin rings, silverware and more.
the u.s.-based gorham manufacturing company first opened its doors in 1831 in providence, rhode island, under the management of co-founders jabez gorham and henry webster. the intrepid duo had hoped to build a business creating smaller wares such as buttons and combs. in the late 1840s, however, when jabez handed control of the company over to his son, john, gorham's production began to focus on larger silver sets.
part of the motivation for this production move stemmed from new taxes that made the import of major european silver makers' works into the united states much more costly. having enjoyed the opportunity to tour european silver studios during past travels, gorham worked to recreate those drop presses and silversmithing techniques in his rhode island workshop. he even went so far as to hire European craftsmen, such as george wilkinson (1819–1894), to better incorporate old world style into gorham designs.
the result was the exponential growth of gorham's popularity, spurred by first lady mary todd lincoln's commission of a silver set for the white house in 1859. also contributing to gorham's growth was the introduction of both plated silver and holloware pieces by the late 1860s. during the 1890s, gorham created some of what would become their most beloved patterns. these designs, which were in part due to the vision of then-director william codman, were featured in the company's upscale boutiques in major cities like new york and served only to further the acclaim of the maker.
this inertia of success continued into the twentieth century when innovative leadership under erik magnussen ushered in incredibly popular art deco forms. by the midpoint of the century, though, america's love of silver began to wane, and in 1967 gorham was sold to textron, a providence-based industrial conglomerate. a merger with lenox holdings in 2005 would signal gorham's downfall (lenox would go bankrupt only four years later). the good news is that gorham's legacy still lives on today, in large part due to prominent commissions, like the century vase ordered by first lady julia grant for the 1876 philadelphia centennial exposition and the 1935 indianapolis 500 borg-warner trophy. gorham's enduring appeal is also a direct response to its extensive repertoire that includes a diverse array of silver pieces and services.
marker's and/or other marks
signed on the from with «norman rockwell». the reverse provides the remainder of the information. (see last image.)
«spring duet»
norman rockwell
america's best loved artist
[gorham logo]
fine china
captures the warm and tender feelings of youth
dimensions
the dish is 7 1/2" in diamater and that gold-finished rim is 3/4" away from the surface on which the plate rests. the bowl has a diameter of 5" and is 1 1/2" tall.
condition
i can find no issues.
the fine print
the images are the majority of the listing description, so take a look at them closely.
shipping costs have really increased—this is calculated into the buy-it-now price.
i am not able to sell individual items from items i have listed as a group. i just don't have the stamina to create new listings for those. i apologize for that. i haven't initially individually listed items because i don't have enough listing slots to so.
trying to downsize some, though extremely melancholically.
shipping time: i otherwise work more than full time and my health isn't great, so kindly excuse the longer handling time. if i am able to ship sooner, i absolutely will do that
. i appreciate you taking the time to view my listing.