Magnificent, Marvelous Martelé - University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Magnificent, Marvelous Martelé - University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Magnificent, Marvelous Martelé - University of Louisiana at Lafayette
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UL LAFAYETTE<br />
FOUNDATION<br />
<strong>Magnificent</strong>, <strong>Marvelous</strong> <strong>Martelé</strong><br />
Museum <strong>of</strong>fers dazzling exhibit <strong>of</strong> handcrafted silver<br />
THE OPENING OF AN EXHIBIT<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Martelé</strong> silver <strong>at</strong> the Paul<br />
and Lulu Hilliard <strong>University</strong><br />
Art Museum was delayed due to<br />
Hurricane K<strong>at</strong>rina.<br />
In a way, it was perfect timing.<br />
The l<strong>at</strong>er start means the exhibition<br />
will run through Dec. 31.<br />
Jardiniére, 1906, by chaser<br />
Robert Bain, Jolie and Robert<br />
Shelton Collection<br />
“The holiday season is a wonderful<br />
time to see this incredible<br />
art,” said Mark Tullos, deputy<br />
director <strong>of</strong> the museum. “Part <strong>of</strong><br />
the sentiment surrounding the holidays<br />
involves our <strong>at</strong>traction to the<br />
beautiful, the exquisite. We see<br />
this in holiday decor<strong>at</strong>ions and in<br />
some <strong>of</strong> the ways th<strong>at</strong> we present<br />
gifts to one another.<br />
46 LA LOUISIANE | FALL 2005<br />
PHILIP GOULD<br />
A table set for eight guests shows how some <strong>Martelé</strong> silver items were used.<br />
PHILIP GOULD
The <strong>University</strong> Art<br />
Museum exhibition is<br />
composed <strong>of</strong> more than<br />
300 pieces, including<br />
some th<strong>at</strong> have never<br />
been displayed before.<br />
“There’s an elegance in the design <strong>of</strong><br />
this handcrafted silver th<strong>at</strong> seems heightened<br />
this time <strong>of</strong> year.”<br />
<strong>Martelé</strong> was an exclusive line <strong>of</strong> handtooled<br />
silver produced from the 1880s to<br />
the 1930s for Gorham Silver Company.<br />
<strong>Magnificent</strong>, <strong>Marvelous</strong> <strong>Martelé</strong>: American<br />
Art Nouveau Silver, The Jolie and Robert<br />
Shelton Collection is the largest and most<br />
comprehensive priv<strong>at</strong>e collection <strong>of</strong> <strong>Martelé</strong><br />
silver in the world.<br />
The <strong>University</strong> Art Museum<br />
exhibition is composed <strong>of</strong> more than 300<br />
pieces, including some th<strong>at</strong> have never<br />
been displayed before. The collection<br />
represents nearly every form produced in<br />
Vase, 1902, by chaser William Gray,<br />
Collection New Orleans Museum <strong>of</strong> Art,<br />
Jolie and Robert Shelton Collection<br />
the <strong>Martelé</strong> line, including tea and c<strong>of</strong>fee<br />
services, punchbowls, fish sets, candelabra,<br />
loving cups, tankards, vases, inkstands,<br />
PHILIP GOULD<br />
COLLECTORS SHARE THEIR TREASURES<br />
Jolie and Robert Shelton have amassed the largest priv<strong>at</strong>e collection <strong>of</strong> <strong>Martelé</strong> silver.<br />
The <strong>Martelé</strong> silver exhibit <strong>at</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong> Art Museum represents<br />
the decade long efforts <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Lafayette</strong> art collectors Jolie and Robert<br />
Shelton.<br />
Jolie Shelton spotted a handsome<br />
<strong>Martelé</strong> w<strong>at</strong>er pitcher <strong>at</strong> a Morton M.<br />
Goldberg auction in New Orleans in 1995.<br />
She entered the bidding. Robert Shelton<br />
still remembers wh<strong>at</strong> she told him then: “I<br />
don’t know wh<strong>at</strong> it is, but it’s beautiful.”<br />
The couple bought the pitcher and<br />
l<strong>at</strong>er learned th<strong>at</strong> it was part <strong>of</strong> Gorham<br />
Manufacturing Company’s <strong>Martelé</strong> line.<br />
They soon identified the important scholars<br />
and collectors <strong>of</strong> <strong>Martelé</strong>, started<br />
studying the distinctive artwork and<br />
began to amass their own collection.<br />
Mark Tullos, deputy director <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Paul and Lulu Hilliard <strong>University</strong> Art<br />
Museum, said the Sheltons exemplify the<br />
importance <strong>of</strong> the priv<strong>at</strong>e collector to<br />
museums and society.<br />
“A number <strong>of</strong> objects in the<br />
collection are part <strong>of</strong> the New Orleans<br />
Museum <strong>of</strong> Art collection because Robert<br />
and Jolie don<strong>at</strong>ed them. The Sheltons<br />
have also made significant contributions<br />
to <strong>University</strong> Art Museum’s collections,<br />
as well as other public and priv<strong>at</strong>e<br />
museums,” he said.<br />
“All too <strong>of</strong>ten, museums don’t have<br />
the funds to secure collections. So they<br />
rely heavily on collectors such as the<br />
Sheltons, who have the desire and means<br />
to assemble collections. Thanks to their<br />
time and effort, the public gets to enjoy<br />
artwork th<strong>at</strong> the museum may not otherwise<br />
have been able to <strong>of</strong>fer.”<br />
Julie Bolton Falgout, executive director<br />
<strong>of</strong> the UL <strong>Lafayette</strong> Found<strong>at</strong>ion, said<br />
the Sheltons have been generous, longtime<br />
supporters <strong>of</strong> the university and,<br />
especially, the school’s art program.<br />
“They have don<strong>at</strong>ed numerous<br />
works <strong>of</strong> art, many <strong>of</strong> them Rodrigue<br />
originals, to our permanent art collection.<br />
We are truly gr<strong>at</strong>eful to Jolie and Robert<br />
Shelton for their generosity to our university,”<br />
she said.<br />
“When the <strong>Martelé</strong> silver exhibit was<br />
being planned for the Paul and Lulu<br />
Hilliard <strong>University</strong> Art Museum, the Sheltons<br />
decided to appropri<strong>at</strong>ely dedic<strong>at</strong>e it<br />
to their longtime friends Dick and Chantal<br />
Dowty. The Dowtys also have a long history<br />
<strong>of</strong> supporting the university and<br />
were lead donors for the construction <strong>of</strong><br />
the Found<strong>at</strong>ion building on East St. Mary<br />
Boulevard in 2000.” ■<br />
LA LOUISIANE | FALL 2005 47<br />
PHILIP GOULD
saucebo<strong>at</strong>s and centerpieces.<br />
A highlight <strong>of</strong> the exhibition<br />
is a 12-foot dining room<br />
table with a full service setting<br />
for eight. “The table display will<br />
provide museum visitors with a<br />
sense <strong>of</strong> how these objects were<br />
used,” said John Keefe, cur<strong>at</strong>or<br />
<strong>of</strong> Decor<strong>at</strong>ive Arts <strong>at</strong> the New<br />
Orleans Museum <strong>of</strong> Art and<br />
organizer <strong>of</strong> the exhibition.<br />
Another object fe<strong>at</strong>ured in<br />
<strong>Magnificent</strong>, <strong>Marvelous</strong> <strong>Martelé</strong><br />
is a massive 32-inch centerpiece,<br />
part <strong>of</strong> a service commissioned<br />
by millionaire oilman<br />
Harry Ford Sinclair. It took over<br />
500 craftsman hours to cre<strong>at</strong>e.<br />
It seems to be one <strong>of</strong><br />
Robert Shelton’s favorite pieces.<br />
“You can b<strong>at</strong>he four babies in<br />
it,” he noted, adding th<strong>at</strong> it<br />
weighs 35 pounds. He is a<br />
walking encyclopedia <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Martelé</strong> silver inform<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
whose fascin<strong>at</strong>ion with the artwork<br />
is contagious.<br />
The Gorham firm was<br />
founded in 1831 by Jabez<br />
Gorham, who <strong>at</strong> the time was a<br />
small provincial jewelry maker. It<br />
would become a mammoth and<br />
influential manufacturer <strong>of</strong> a<br />
wide variety <strong>of</strong> silver wares.<br />
Love Cup: 8982, Circa 1897, but completed in<br />
1898, Chaser: Unrecorded, The Jolie and Robert<br />
Shelton Collection<br />
48 LA LOUISIANE | FALL 2005<br />
Robert Shelton <strong>at</strong>tends to details before the exhibition opens.<br />
By 1900, Gorham Manufacturing<br />
was the largest silver manufacturer in<br />
the world and occupied a sprawling<br />
st<strong>at</strong>e-<strong>of</strong>-the-art factory in Providence,<br />
R.I. Throughout its rapid growth and<br />
expansion, the company distinguished<br />
itself by successfully combining the l<strong>at</strong>est<br />
technological advances with exemplary<br />
design.<br />
<strong>Martelé</strong>, named from the French<br />
verb “to hammer,” was a departure<br />
from Gorham’s machine-made commercial<br />
fl<strong>at</strong>ware and hollowware.<br />
Each piece was first cre<strong>at</strong>ed by a<br />
silversmith, then decor<strong>at</strong>ed by a chaser.<br />
Because it was handcrafted, <strong>Martelé</strong><br />
was expensive. So, it was made in small<br />
quantities, usually as individual pieces<br />
or small sets. No pieces were duplic<strong>at</strong>ed;<br />
each is unique.<br />
Buyers were the wealthy <strong>of</strong> the day.<br />
A single pitcher may have cost $1,500,<br />
three times the cost <strong>of</strong> a house <strong>at</strong> the<br />
time, according to Robert Shelton.<br />
It’s estim<strong>at</strong>ed th<strong>at</strong> 7,000<br />
to 8,000 pieces were made.<br />
Many were melted for their<br />
silver whenever the price for<br />
silver soared. Only about<br />
1,700 to 1,800 exist today.<br />
<strong>University</strong> Art Museum’s<br />
5,000-square-foot gallery has<br />
been divided into seven galleries<br />
representing different<br />
periods in the <strong>Martelé</strong> line’s<br />
evolution and development.<br />
Tullos noted th<strong>at</strong> visiting<br />
the <strong>Martelé</strong> exhibit can<br />
be relaxing during the busy<br />
holidays.<br />
“When you visit a museum<br />
and spend time with<br />
gre<strong>at</strong> works <strong>of</strong> art, you tend<br />
to leave behind, for just a<br />
few moments, all the things<br />
th<strong>at</strong> may be burdening you.<br />
“Awesome cre<strong>at</strong>ions like<br />
this <strong>Martelé</strong> silver collection<br />
can be inspiring and lift you<br />
above wh<strong>at</strong>ever you may be<br />
struggling with in your personal<br />
life. It’s an escape, in a<br />
way, an escape to a different<br />
time in history, when things<br />
were simpler.<br />
“You really have to slow<br />
down in this exhibition, too.<br />
It’s not something you can<br />
give a cursory glance and<br />
fully appreci<strong>at</strong>e. The <strong>Martelé</strong> silver will<br />
draw you in.” ■<br />
PHILIP GOULD<br />
<strong>Magnificent</strong>, <strong>Marvelous</strong> <strong>Martelé</strong>:<br />
American Art Nouveau Silver, The<br />
Jolie and Robert Shelton Collection<br />
runs through Dec. 31.<br />
An innov<strong>at</strong>ive MP3 audio tour<br />
<strong>of</strong> the silver exhibition was developed<br />
by the UL <strong>Lafayette</strong> College <strong>of</strong><br />
the Arts. It is available for download<br />
<strong>at</strong> http://arts.louisiana.edu<br />
<strong>University</strong> Art Museum is open<br />
Tuesday through S<strong>at</strong>urday from 10<br />
a.m. to 5 p.m and on Sunday from<br />
1-5 p.m. It’s closed on Monday. For<br />
general museum inform<strong>at</strong>ion,<br />
phone (337) 482-2ART.<br />
■ www.louisiana.edu/uam