Item number: 59097
A rare pair of Art Nouveau 830 grade silver fish servers,
Bergen (Norway) circa 1910 by Emil Hoye for Magnus Aase
The rhombic, partially pierced top of the fish server worked as a ray. The serving fork as an abstract sea snake. The end is worked as a plastic, sinuous tail with fins and fish scales, being connected to their blade or prongs by the curved stem.
Exceptional and rare pair of Art Nouveau fish servers which exemplify the great ingenuity of the designer Emil Hoye. A teasing detail is the sea snake as a serving fork, whose central tine is worked at its end as a nose tip with two holes.
Length: fish server: 26.6 cm / 10.47″, serving fork: 24.5 cm / 9.64″; 208.5 g / 6.70 oz total weight
Emil Hoye silversmith and designer
Emil Hoye (actually “Høye”), born in Bergen in 1875 and died there in 1958, was one of the most famous designers of Norwegian Art Nouveau. Emil Hoye achieved international recognition as a designer and goldsmith in particular, and there is also evidence of his poster designs, which were influenced by the Czech artist Alphonse Mucha and French Art Nouveau. Emil Hoye was employed for a time as a designer at the silversmithy Magnus Aase and was also the managing director there between 1910 and 1916 until he went into business for himself. Before and after that, he also worked as a designer for other silversmiths.
