Flirtation Tea Servers - Holding Place

Materials: Sterling silver, rubber
Dimensions: 12" x 6" x 6"

sterling silver flat sheet construction.

Flirtation Tea Server is in the collection of the ‘Renwick Gallery’, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC, USA.

Photo credit: Robly A. Glover

Robly A. Glover

My intention is to create a series of figurative and zoomorphic hollowware that embodies energy, movement, and stance as their central theme. The resulting forms will combine geometric and organic flowing lines in a suggestion of animal and human imagery. These works will project both playful and intellectual energies with the stance and movement that is implied becoming critical to their visual life. I will integrate the essential components of a pouring vessel: body, spout, foot, and lid into the visual whole of the form. My interest in producing this body of work has been inspired through the study of many cultures including: African, Pre-Columbian, Greek, and Cycladic. This series of hollowware will be a synthesis of my visual, spiritual, and physical experiences relating to the investigation of the functional vessel


These containers and vessels definitely hold their place in the world of stunning art objects as well as in the world of metalsmithing.

Since the dawn of time humans have created containers to hold things that were important to them, from large vessels to hold food and harvests to intimate containers for small precious things. They might hold memories, ashes, medicine, beverage, fruit or food - but all spring from the imagination and skill of the maker. Some have specific religious functions, some are meant for everyday use. When one thinks of a vessel or container the inclination is to think of something with solid walls - yet many of these works involve the exploration of positive and negative space, and the use of negative space to help create the illusion of the wall of the vessel.

As the world’s largest jewelry related internet site, Ganoksin strives to develop exhibitions showcasing work from around the world. This exhibition was open to all metalsmiths, professional and amateur, advanced and beginner. Participants are from The Netherlands, the USA, Canada, Australia, Costa Rica, the United Kingdom, Israel, Hong Kong, Colombia, Romania, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia and Denmark. While most of the pieces are by an individual metalsmith, some are collaborations, one of three artists spanning 50 years.

In total 319 artists contributed 729 show pieces for the permanent online exhibition.

Objects in the exhibition include boxes, lockets, urns, ash containers, bowls, wine cups, reliquaries, match holders, vases, teapots, pitchers, sugar bowls, baskets, nests, pillboxes, clutches and a range of sculptural forms. A variety of techniques are showcased covering a wide range of metalsmithing techniques. Materials used include everything from gold and silver to less expensive metals. Ornamentation includes the addition of enamel, chasing and repousse’, gemstones and found objects.

The exhibition was curated by Beth Wicker, President of the North Carolina Society of Goldsmiths in the United States, and Adjunct Instructor at Northeastern Technical College in South Carolina. Director of the exhibition is Hanuman Aspler, founder of The Ganoksin Project, the world’s largest internet jewelry site.