95. Donald Colfesh
b. 1932
Decanter and six cordials, from the “Circa ‘70” line 1960 Sterling silver, Bakelite. Decanter: 15 3/8 in. (39.1 cm) high Each cordial: 4 5/8 in. (11.7 cm) high Produced by Gorham Manufacturing Company, Providence, RI. Underside of decanter impressed Gorham/STERLING/1466 and with hallmarks. Underside of each cordial glass impressed Gorham STERLING 1467. Estimate $6,000-8,000 Literature Jewel Stern, Modernism in American Silver: 20th Century Design, exh. cat., Dallas Museum of Art, Da, 2005, pp. 257-63 for a discussion on the “Circa ‘70” line
Though the present lot belongs to a line of silver hollowware called “Circa ’70,” Donald Colfesh designed the pieces for Gorham Manufacturing Company more than a decade earlier. This title alludes to the futurism of his forms. The sleek lines of the slender decanter and the attenuated conical cordials almost look like spaceships, surely an inspiration for the young designer during the “Space Race.” Though the aesthetics of the present lot refect a particular zeitgeist, the forms have remained strikingly modern. Just as a
1961 advertisement in The New Yorker predicted: “An inspiring design, this modern sterling has a timeless quality that makes it a joy to own today, tomorrow, forever.” The “Circa ‘70” line also included a tea and cofee set, but the decanter and cordial glass are rarer examples of the “Circa ‘70” line. An example of the present model decanter and cordial belong to the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Dallas Museum of Art.