San Francisco Ceramic Circle
October 17th, 2002 Meeting
"Designing Dishes: a new perspective on the similarities
between ceramic and silver dishes"
Michael J. Weller
Argentum Antiques of San Francisco
The October 2002 meeting of the San Francisco Ceramic Circle
will be held on Thursday, 17th October in the Florence Gould Theater
at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, San Francisco.
Entrance is from the West terrace from 7.30pm. The lecture will
start at 8.00pm.
About the Lecture: Recent scholarship has identified designers,
modelmakers and artists as the origin for designs used both by
ceramicists and silversmiths. This talk will explore how 18th
century objects were designed, how the designs translated into
actual objects, and how such objects were marketed. Did potters
or silversmiths design their own wares? Why do silver and ceramic
objects so often look alike stylistically? How did the difference
in material influence styles and form? What is the role of the
merchant in ordering or designing wares? These questions will
be addressed from a new perspective.
About the lecturer: Michael Weller is owner of Argentum Antiques
in San Francisco, established in 1976, specialists in antique
silver. Mr. Weller exhibits at major shows nationally such as
the San Francisco Fall Antique show, the Philadelphia Hospital
Show, the Washington D.C., show, The Los Angeles Antique Show
and the Chicago International Show. He is head of the vetting
committees for San Francisco and Los Angeles and a member of the
metals committee at the Winter Antique Show in New York. He is
a former president of the Antique Dealers Association of California,
the Jackson Square Art and Antique Dealers Association, and the
Decorative Arts Forus of Northern California.
Next meeting: Wednesday, 7th November 2002. Janine Skerry,
Curator ceramics and Glass at Colonial Williamsburg will talk
about Stirrup Cups