Teapot

Arts of the Americas

1960

William N. Frederick
American, 1921–2012
Chicago

After studying metalwork at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, silversmith William Frederick spent decades producing beautiful and functional objects for clients in Chicago. This teapot exhibits a sleek, undecorated surface and organic curves, an aesthetic popular in midcentury silver due to the influence of Scandinavian designers. The cantilevered finial recalls Frederick’s background in engineering, while the harmonious sweep of the body and spout provides a dynamic appearance. The lack of hammer marks is atypical for Frederick’s work, however, as he often marked his pieces with explicit evidence of the maker’s hand.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: William Frederick
Title: Teapot
Place: Chicago (Object made in:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1960
Medium: Sterling silver, ebony
Inscriptions: Marked on bottom: HANDWROUGHT STERLING FREDERICK
Dimensions: 19.7 × 23.5 cm (7 3/4 × 9 1/4 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Antiquarian Society through the Mrs. Myron F. Ratcliffe Fund in memory of Myron F. Ratcliffe
Reference Number: 1991.108a-b

Sharon Darling and Gale Farr Casterling, Chicago Metalsmiths: An Illustrated History, exh. cat. (Chicago Historical Society, 1977), 82, fig. 100 (ill.).
Jennifer M. Downs, “‘The New Modern Feeling’: A Catalogue of the Collection,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 27, 2 (2001), 101–103, cat. 31.
Carolyn Kelly, The Kalo Shop: A Case Study of Handwrought Silver in the Twentieth Century, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in the History of Arts, Cooper-Hewitt, National Deisgn Museum and Parsons School of Design, 2006, illus. 100, 206.
Judith A. Barter, Elizabeth McGoey, et al., American Silver in the Art Institute of Chicago (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016), cat. 99 (ill.).
Elizabeth McGoey, ed., American Silver in the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2018), https://publications.artic.edu/americansilver/reader/collection/section/6, cat. 99 (ill.).

Chicago Historical Society, Chicago Metalsmiths: An Illustrated History, May 21–Oct. 23, 1977, cat.

The artist, William N. Frederick, Chicago, until 1991; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1991.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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