Has anyone seen a copy of Bruce Johnson's book "Hand Wrought: The Artistry of William Waldo Dodge" or seen the exhibit by the same name help at the Asheville Art Museum?

The museum exhibit in Ashville, North Carolina will be up until May 22.

I will not be able to attend.

Fred

Sounds very interesting - do you have any pictures of his work, or web references?

"Handwrought silver and architecture: The artistry of William Waldo Dodge" at the Asheville Art Museum Friday, February 18 - Sunday, May 22, 2005 in the Appleby Foundation Gallery. Dodge (1895-1971) was one of the premier silversmiths of the 20th century, and, in addition, he was an inventor, a painter, a woodcarver and a successful architect. This remarkable innovator called Asheville home. The Asheville Art Museum, with Guest Curator Bruce Johnson, has gathered vintage photographs of his workshops and buildings, paintings, and, of course, his stellar work in silver for a comprehensive exhibition."

The first items I ever saw of Dodge's work were two plates presented as trophy's. Both had highly textured surfaces. These now belong to Bruce Johnson. I have also seen flatware and have just acquired a pair of shoe buckles. He was an inovative smith who experimented with hammered textures and unusual forms. Much of what is found are trophies. I will post images of what I own when I can.

Fred

Shoe Buckles !!!

Fred, as the young folk would say, you are "hard core". Arts and Crafts shoe buckles - I love it

Here is an image of a pair of Dodge buckles.



The United States began a fascination with it's colonial history during the last part of the 19th Century and first part of the 20th century. The affluent would dress up in costumes of the period and have parties. Shoe buckles were a must-have article for the get-togethers. The use of shoe buckles also became fashionable in later years. I own several different buckles by a few other makers.

I have seen photographs of the folks dress in costume at one of the museums in Deerfield, Mass. They have a pair made by Madeline Yale Wynne in their collection.

Fred

I have just ordered my copy of Johnson's booklet on the work of Dodge. It is more of a catalogue of the show at the museum. I will review it for the forum when it arrives.

Fred

The catalogue arrived and I have finished devouring it in it's entirety. We are fortunate to have someone like Bruce Johnson take interest in researching and collecting the work of this Silversmith/Architect. The book is well organized and I believe it fills the needs of both historians and collectors. It is well illustrated with period photos and images from his catalogues along with current photos from collections of those who have appreciated the work of Dodge. I was thilled to see images of some of the items I had found here in Tucson and helped Mr. Johnson acquire for his collection.

The layout of the book is clear and easy to follow. Chapters of marks and their meaning are well discussed and have provided greater information for dating the existant pieces in collections. I had always been stumped by the variety and number of marks that Dodge often placed on his silver. It was good to see acknowlegement of the men he trained and to see images of the shop. I very much enjoyed the breakdown of the items that were produced at the shop and would have liked to see some of the shop cards that showed the size and gauge of materials and time requiered to make the pieces.

I am indebted to Mr. Johnson for the time and effort it took to research and then publish.

I highly recommend this book.

Fred

Surfing around I found this great collection of pictures from the Grove Park Inn conference and show - a few pics down is a display case of Dodge's work - hard to see much but good to see the work getting the attention Fred has noted

lots of other great shots of metalware etc. as well

http://www.roycroftcopper.com/gpi2003.htm

Stonecat,
Thanks for the link...

Here are images of a sauce ladle by Dodge.



marked with Asheville Silvercraft mark.



This mark was used during the early period of the shop prior to 1929.

More later

Fred