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Detail: Mark

Oyster fork, part of a fifteen-piece place setting


Three-tined fork, part of a fifteen-piece place setting
Designed by: George Christian Gebelein (American, born in Germany, 1878–1945)
Gebelein Silversmiths (1908 to about 1960)
1929
Object Place: Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Medium/Technique Silver
Credit Line Anonymous gift
Accession Number1981.379a
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsSilver flatware
In addition to making contemporary pieces, Gebelein restored, replicated, bought, and sold antique silver. This intimate contact with some of the finest eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Boston silver enabled him to develop a remarkable sensitivity to historic forms. When Gebelein later reinterpreted these pieces, often enhancing them with modern flourishes, he succeeded in preserving the aesthetic integrity of the older models.
This place setting, which looks back to eighteenth-century examples, was designed by Gebelein with the assistance of Nancy Thayer (d. 1995) as part of a service for twelve made at the time of her marriage to Laurence Batchelder. The service represents every form appropriate to an elegant and fully equipped table in the early twentieth century, from individual fruit knives to oyster forks. It further reflects the refined and austere tastes of prominent Bostonians in the late 1920s. Flatware has been recognized as an important part of Gebelein’s overall production. He also retailed the flatware of other firms, such as Gorham, Reed & Barton, and Currier and Roby reproductions.

This text has been adapted from "Silver of the Americas, 1600-2000," edited by Jeannine Falino and Gerald W.R. Ward, published in 2008 by the MFA. Complete references can be found in that publication.

DescriptionThe utensil has a plain ovoid end and a downturned handle.
Marks “STERLING,” “GEBELEIN” in a rectangle, and “Boston” in incuse italics struck on reverse of handle. Oyster fork is doublestruck.
Inscriptions“B / L N” engraved on handle.
Provenance1929, commissioned from Gebelein by the anonymous donor; 1981, anonymous gift to the MFA. (Accession date: October 14, 1981)