Item number: 58356
A rare sterling silver lidded bowl “Flycatcher” #1337,
Copenhagen 1992 by Georg Jensen
A rare sterling silver lidded bowl “Flycatcher” designed by Allan Scharff, 1980. Executed by Georg Jensen silversmithy, 1992.
The “Flycatcher” lidded box belongs to a collection of decorative bird-shaped works by the Danish silversmith Allan Scharff, which he designed in 1980 and which were produced by Georg Jensen in a limited edition of 25 pieces in sterling silver between 1992 and 1994. The highly refined construction of the lidded box demanded the utmost precision from the silversmith, as the rounded shapes were hand hammered of the silver and the lines had to be precisely implemented in terms of both aesthetics and functional usability.
The “Flycatcher” bowl in the context of Allan Scharff’s work
In its visual reduction to the utmost, the “Flycatcher” box represents a formal continuation of the stylistic principles of silverware of the 1950s, based on the renunciation of all ornamental decoration and instead elevating the form to the sole adornment. In view of his outstanding creative genius, it is hardly surprising that Allan Scharff, as a designer and silversmith, is to be counted among the most important Danish artists of the post-war period, and so the “Flycatcher” can also be found, amongst others, in the collection of the Designmuseum Danmark, one of Denmark’s most important museums for modern design, where it was presented in the artist’s first solo exhibition (1980) in an aviary together with 28 other bird sculptures and was acquired by the Designmuseum Danmark after the end of the exhibition.
The “Flycatcher” is one of the artist’s personal favourite works, which Allan Scharff executed in silver for the collection of Margrethe II of Denmark and for the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (New York), among others.
11.3 cm / 4.44″ length, 6.9 cm / 2.71″ width, 8.5 cm / 3.34″ tall (to the tail); 204.9 g / 7.22 oz
