Japonesque Style Pattern Number 5 Frunit Knife
Medium
cutlery
Classification
cutlery
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Museum purchase from General Acquisitions Endowment Fund
Accession Number
1996-81-4
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
This fruit knife, titled Japonesque Style Pattern Number 5, was produced around 1880 by the Gorham Manufacturing Company of Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1818, Gorham rose to prominence as a leading American maker of fine cutlery, known for merging practical design with the era’s evolving artistic tastes. The Japonesque style reflects the late-19th-century Western fascination with Japanese aesthetics, which manufacturers like Gorham adapted into decorative objects after increased cultural exchange with Japan. Applied here to a functional fruit knife, the pattern shows how even everyday...