AFA 18th Anniversary

Antiques & Fine Art 163 2018 Adrian Bancker (1703–1772), Set of three casters, 1731–1750. Silver, raised, seamed, and pierced. H. 7⅛ in. D. 2¼ in. Diam. 2¾ in. (the largest of three). Museum of the City of New York; Gift of Herbert L. Pratt (43.10.13A-B). Wendy Yothers (b. 1952), silversmith, Karbra Co., casting. Gotham tête-à-tête beverage service, 2017. Silver; raised, formed, fabricated, cast, chased. H. 11, W. 15, D. 11 in. (overall). Photo courtesy of the artist and the Museum of the City of New York. It is unusual to find a surviving set of casters such as this in American silver. The smaller containers would have held seasonings — likely dry mustard in one and Jamaica or cayenne pepper in the other—while the larger would often be used for sugar. The tall, pierced domes of these three pieces suggested the Manhattan skyline for Wendy Yothers, a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology. The streamlined design of her beverage service—comprising two pitchers, two creamers, and a sugar bowl — echoes the Art Deco aesthetic common to the iconic buildings that informed the lids of the pieces, including the Chrysler and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company buildings, Grant’s Tomb, and the water towers prevalent throughout the city.