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Not currently on display at the V&A

Sargasso

Fish Slice
2002 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This wonderfully intricate creation was inspired by the ancient squid-like form of the Cretaceous Era. The blade is sharply dished and shaped as an angled scimitar. The sharp point and serrated edge evoke the menacing presence of deep sea creatures. The handle is a wondrous display of technical ability combined with beautiful design. It is formed of interweaving striated strips of silver and gold with beaded details. The strips are bound to the blade with a peened round collar under a pricked round cap. The irregularity of the intricately textured joint juxtaposed with the elegance of the twisting handle captures the essence of natural forms. The piece is beautifully embellished with gold details, a diamond capped pin that secures blade to handle and a grey pearl finial. This ingenious piece has a mysterious, evocative presence.

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interact Serving up: silver slices Rummage hard enough through your kitchen drawers and you might find a metal server for slicing and serving fish, cakes, pies and puddings. Today slices are often reserved for special occasions, but they were once the height of fashion, specially designed for specific foods – from 'knight s...

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleSargasso (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Sterling silver, 18k gold, grey pearl, diamond
Brief description
Sterling silver, 18 carat gold, pearl and diamond, USA, Seattle, 2002, designed and made by Andrew S. Cooperman.
Physical description
The bevelled blade is 14-guage of sharply dished and angled scimitar shape. It has an amorphously curved and serrated right side that curls up at the rear and carries a gold edge along its rear two thirds and around the sharply turned up, 18 carat gold, back 16 gauge bolster. The highly prolate handle is formed by interweaving, in a loose long tapered corkscrew shape, twisted striated strips of 16 gauge silver, along with some gold strips and several gold beads. The strips are bound at the front of the handle by an everted, peened round collar, and are all gathered under a pricked irregularly rounded cap. They recall the tangled seaweed of the caption name. The handle is held to the apron by a small diamond capped pin. It terminates in a long tapering shape that culminates in a grey pearl. The completed slice was oxidised and then selectively highlighted.
Dimensions
  • Length: 33.7cm
  • Weight: 343g
Gallery label
This collection of silver slices, all commissioned over a period of twenty years by Professor Benton Seymour Rabinovitch FRS, is proof of the skill and diversity of contemporary silversmiths. Each artist craftsman has responded to the familiar functional form of the slice in an individual way, producing an astonishingly diverse range of interpretations. Each piece becomes an enchanting, decorative work of art. Professor Rabinovitch established a close rapport with each artist, always encouraging a freedom of creative expression. The response of these silversmiths has been not only to be strikingly imaginative but also to honour him by giving him their best work. This collection is testimony to the significant contribution that one individual can make to supporting the craft of silversmithing. After commissioning work from some of the most illustrious names in British and North American silversmithing, Professor Rabinovitch has very generously donated his entire collection to the Victoria and Albert Museum, through the American Friends of the V&A.(2005)
Credit line
Given by the American Friends of the V&A through the generosity of Professor B. Seymour Rabinovitch
Object history
Historical significance: Cooperman takes inspiration from the natural world and its subtle drama. His aim is to reveal these hidden secrets to the viewer, the "poetry in the exquisitely engineered joining of a fly's wing to its body". The blueprints for his pieces are sometimes taken directly from nature, in this case from the squid-like creatures of the Cretaceous Era.
Historical context
Part of a collection of fish slices commissioned by Professor Rabinovitch from contemporary North American and British makers.
Summary
This wonderfully intricate creation was inspired by the ancient squid-like form of the Cretaceous Era. The blade is sharply dished and shaped as an angled scimitar. The sharp point and serrated edge evoke the menacing presence of deep sea creatures. The handle is a wondrous display of technical ability combined with beautiful design. It is formed of interweaving striated strips of silver and gold with beaded details. The strips are bound to the blade with a peened round collar under a pricked round cap. The irregularity of the intricately textured joint juxtaposed with the elegance of the twisting handle captures the essence of natural forms. The piece is beautifully embellished with gold details, a diamond capped pin that secures blade to handle and a grey pearl finial. This ingenious piece has a mysterious, evocative presence.
Bibliographic reference
Benton Seymour Rabinovitch, Contemporary Silver, Part II: Recent Commissions, Seattle, 2005, pp. 46-7. ill.
Other number
LOAN:AMERICANFRIENDS.121-2005 - previous loan number
Collection
Accession number
M.94-2008

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Record createdJuly 12, 2007
Record URL
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