Cake Slice
1998 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Brophy's server belongs to science fiction fantasy. The detailed and elaborate cast creature writhes with disturbing life. Its knotted muscles and snaking tail contrast with the polished smoothness and glitter of the columnar handle. This might be a tool to use at an alien banquet, disturbing and delighting in equal measure.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Silver, hammered and cast |
| Brief description | Cake slice, silver, USA, Carlisle, Massachusetts, 1998, designed and made by Michael Brophy |
| Physical description | The server has a trowel shape and a lightly hammered blade with rounded tip and pointed rear side cusps. It bends up towards the back to a convex, round, which holds a fluted columnar handle. The blade is held by a small U-drop underneath and a short tat-tail topside, and is further secured by a bolt that passes into the hollow handle. The handle is fluted over two thirds of its forward length and terminates in a heavy, square capital, from which a finely peened, star burst, quarter round finial button protrudes. The junction end of the handle is surmounted by a ferocious winged dragon whose tail writhes back over and along the column and whose claws scar the round that holds the blade. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | No marks |
| 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 |
| Historical context | Part of a collection of fish slices commissioned by Professor Rabinovitch from contemporary North American and British makers. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | Brophy's server belongs to science fiction fantasy. The detailed and elaborate cast creature writhes with disturbing life. Its knotted muscles and snaking tail contrast with the polished smoothness and glitter of the columnar handle. This might be a tool to use at an alien banquet, disturbing and delighting in equal measure. |
| Bibliographic reference | Benton Seymour Rabinovitch and Helen Clifford, Contemporary Silver, commissioning designing collecting, London, Merrell, pp.104-5. ill. ISBN.1858941040 |
| Other number | LOAN:AMERICANFRIENDS.115-2005 - previous loan number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.88-2008 |
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| Record created | May 12, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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