Centerpiece bowl

Many of America's strongest proponents of avant-garde design in the early twentieth century were European-born immigrants, including Elsa Tennhardt. Her severe geometric forms, like this centerpiece bowl and candlesticks, echo tenets of Cubism and Russian Constructivism - perhaps an influence of her early training as a painter in Germany. Although recognized today as a visionary, Tennhardt's name was virtually unknown at the time. Silver design in America was less receptive than other areas of the decorative arts to European modernist influences. To many, silver was still something passed down from one generation to the next. Consequently, few American silversmiths accepted the challenge of European avant-garde design, and even fewer created works more audacious than Tennhardt's centerpiece bowl and candlesticks.