It is believed that the Gorham Company expanded into the making of hollow ware as well as flatware sometime in the 1880′s. In order to do so it became necessary to hire craftspeople skilled in the technique of hand raising, as well as to acquire the appropriate hand tools and equipment.
Hand raising is the process of forming an object, such as a hollow vessel, from a flat sheet of metal by alternately hammering and annealing.
Upon the opening of the new Elmwood Avenue plant in 1890, all of the latest machinery was employed and much of the hand raising was replaced by various machine spinning techniques. However, many of the sample and special orders, as well as the Martelé line were still hand raised.
The Gorham archives include the photo documentation of much of its facilities, activities, and production techniques. Here, I’m sharing with you a series which illustrate the hand raising process.
iheartfilm said,
April 15, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Very cool.
Spencer Gordon said,
May 13, 2009 at 6:41 am
Gorham (then doing business as Gorham & Thurber) started making holloware about 1850, soon after John Gorham began his tenure as president. Please see:
http://www.spencermarks.com/html/extremely_rare_and_fine_gorham.html
for a very fine early example and more details.