This conference took place in Oakland and the Bay area from November 12 - 14, 2004 and was wonderfully organized by Lisa Koenigsberg and her able assistant, Patrick Vega., both New York University, School of Continuing and Professional Studies. The aim of the conference was to examine the development of modernity in California and to give an up to date description of the modern scene in metalsmithing.

November 12

W.Scott Braznell, an independent scholar and specialist in modern American design, gave an outline of the beginnings of metalsmithing in California. With its promise of a better life and gold as a catalyst, California was able to attract people from all over the world and all walks of life.
The gold rush of 1848 and the discovery of silver in the Comstock Lode in western Nevada in 1859 provided the ready cash to develop San Francisco from a meager outpost to a civilized city. History and folklore are embedded in Californian silver - Indian motifs and Californian flora and fauna are used in early silverworks.

San Francisco 1848 in E. Hungerford: Wells Fargo, NY 1949, page 53	Miners in the West 1851, in: T.H.Watkins: Gold and Silver in the West, 1971, page 37

The Californian natural environment was also the main inspiration for early studio artists, later on European modernism was enthusiastically embraced, European immigrant designers like Dirk van Erp played a major role in developing the specific Californian Arts and Craft Style.

Suzanne Baizerman, a curator of Crafts and Decorative Arts, Oakland Museum of California, held a very interesting lecture about Californian exhibitions and expositions. The Mechanics Fair of 1878 was an important showcase for the early silversmiths such as Frederick Reichel, William Vanderslice and George C. and Samuel Shreve.

George C. Shreve & C. – Trophy, silver, gold, gold quartz, San Francisco 1883, in Silver in the Golden State, Oakland Museum 1986, Back cover	Shreve & C. Punchbowl in XIV century pattern, in Silver in the Golden State, Oakland Museum 1986 plate 12

The Panama Pacific Exhibition of 1911 was a symbol of rebirth after the horrible fire, which devastated San Francisco. Many metalsmiths exhibited their wares: Shreve and Co. introduced their attractive 14th century flatware line, which is stamped out with dies but suggests handwork. Copper works such as lamps and smoking sets were the speciality of Dirk van Erp and Harry Dixon. Ernest Batchelder and Donald Donaldson were two more influential proponents of the Arts and Craft Movement. Donaldson, an inventive and technically very accomplished jeweler, enameler and silversmith, made a covered chalice, for which he won the gold medal at the Panama-Californian Exposition in San Diego.

Modern exhibitions like “California Design 1910”, in 1974 by the Pasadena Museum of Art and above all “The Arts and Craft Movement in California, Living the Good Life”, in 1993 at the Oakland Museum inspired renewed interest in the Arts and Craft Movement of California.

A guest curator at “California Design 1910” Bonnie Mattison and Robert Judson Clark, professor emeritus of art and archeology, Princeton University, lectured on the work of The Van Erp Family. During the 1970s, many of the children of the original Arts and Craft designers were still alive and Mattison met them and conducted many interesting interviews.
The Van Erp Shop was a breeding ground for artisans of the Arts and Craft Movement such as Alexander J. Robertson, Harry Dixon, Agatha van Erp, to name a few. Dirk van Erp is best known for his elegant lamps with mica shades, but his shop produced many other interesting objects such as vases, jardinières, bowls, boxes, desk sets, book ends, waste baskets, fireplace screens, etc. etc. After Dirk van Erp's death in 1933, his son William van Erp carried on the business. He worked as a silversmith in the Bay Area into the mid 1970s.

Todd Wells, collector, silver researcher and part-time dealer and auctioneer, spoke about his favorite silversmith, Clemens Friedell.

Friedell was not a card-carrying member of any Arts and Craft organisations. Conventionally trained in Vienna, Austria and having worked for Gorham on their prestigious Martele line, he came to California in 1910, settled in Pasadena and established a successful business. He was popular with the horsy set and specialized in trophies and custom commissions for wealthy patrons.

His masterpiece is the 107- piece dinner service, made for millionaire brewer, Eddie R. Maier and featuring orange blossoms, 10000 to be exact – surely counted by Mr. Friedell himself. Since chasing is a very costly technique, Clemens Friedell also made a more affordable line in Arts and Craft style, featuring exquisite proportions, ornamented only by hammer marks and wonderfully chased initials.

Cynthia Adler, an accomplished silversmith in her own right, was supposed to speak about the work of her grandfather, Porter Blanchard, her father Allan Adler, and her uncles Lewis Wise and Kenneth Adler.

Unfortunately she was not well enough to hold the lecture and we saw slides showing the work of these important silversmiths.

Michael Weller, antique silver dealer par excellence, spoke about Shreve &Co in the 1920's. He reminded us that even though decorative arts lectures concentrate mostly on studio artists and their work, the yearly output of silver items by a commercial firm like Shreve & Co., probably surpassed the number of items all the studio artists made during their lifetime.
The Shreve Company in 1920 employed over 600 people and produced a very wide range of silverware. The factory produced silver to a “price point”, but also made fine custom orders.
Some years ago 1600 design drawings and two photo albums were found at Shreve's San Francisco showroom, they were subsequently given to the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco and are awaiting thesis candidates for further study and research. The photo albums show every piece of equipment and every workroom in the factory. The factory employed untrained workers and high-class silversmiths, the firm trained and employed designers, often sending them abroad for schooling. Shreve's created many elegant designs, which bowed to the Arts and Craft movement and Michael Weller posed the question, if these products can be considered master pieces of the Art and Craft Movement or must fall wayside as industrial standardized production?

The day ended with a very entertaining lecture by Alice Kaufmann, an independent writer for many publications on antiques. She talked about Philip Paval, a Danish gold- and silversmith, whose successful career seemed to have been more promoted by his social life as notorious party animal and his drinking with the well-to-do than maybe his creative talents.
If one wants to know more about P. Paval, read his autobiography, 'Autobiography of a Hollywood Artist', where his adventures and achievements are described in more detail.