A masterpiece of American silver plate barware from the golden age of country club culture, this Apollo Silver Co. cocktail shaker is distinguished by its all-over embossed decoration depicting a continuous golf course panorama — one of the most desirable and collectible decorative treatments in the category.
The shaker is of generous pitcher form, tapering from a broad circular foot to a fitted lid with faceted knop finial and beaded collar. A scrolled rococo-revival handle of considerable elegance is set opposite a short cylindrical pouring spout with strainer. The body is decorated in bold relief with a wraparound fairway scene: a golfer caught at the full follow-through of his drive, a caddie standing at attention beside a bag of clubs, mature oaks and conifers framing the composition, and naturalistic tufts of rough and bunker throughout. The scene reads as a complete landscape, animated and full of period character, the figures rendered with a charming directness entirely typical of American decorative metalwork of the 1920s.
The base retains its original cork pad centered by a small circular patent plaque stamped PAT'D. MAY 13, 1924, providing an exact date for the design. The body is further stamped with the maker's number 4949 and the Apollo Silver Co. mark. Apollo, a division of Bernard Rice's Sons of New York, was among the most prolific and quality-conscious silver plate manufacturers of the interwar period, supplying the American market with barware that married accessible luxury with genuine craft.
Golf-themed barware from the 1920s occupies a distinct collecting niche at the intersection of sporting memorabilia and decorative arts, and embossed rather than engraved examples — where the decoration is integral to the metal rather than applied — are significantly more desirable. This example, in very good condition with strong plate, is a superior representative of the form.
MAKER: Apollo Silver Co. (Bernard Rice's Sons), New York DATE: Patented May 13, 1924 MATERIALS: Silver plate; cork MARKS: "PAT'D. MAY 13, 1924" to base patent plaque; maker's number 4949 to body
A masterpiece of American silver plate barware from the golden age of country club culture, this Apollo Silver Co. cocktail shaker is distinguished by its all-over embossed decoration depicting a continuous golf course panorama — one of the most desirable and collectible decorative treatments in the category.
The shaker is of generous pitcher form, tapering from a broad circular foot to a fitted lid with faceted knop finial and beaded collar. A scrolled rococo-revival handle of considerable elegance is set opposite a short cylindrical pouring spout with strainer. The body is decorated in bold relief with a wraparound fairway scene: a golfer caught at the full follow-through of his drive, a caddie standing at attention beside a bag of clubs, mature oaks and conifers framing the composition, and naturalistic tufts of rough and bunker throughout. The scene reads as a complete landscape, animated and full of period character, the figures rendered with a charming directness entirely typical of American decorative metalwork of the 1920s.
The base retains its original cork pad centered by a small circular patent plaque stamped PAT'D. MAY 13, 1924, providing an exact date for the design. The body is further stamped with the maker's number 4949 and the Apollo Silver Co. mark. Apollo, a division of Bernard Rice's Sons of New York, was among the most prolific and quality-conscious silver plate manufacturers of the interwar period, supplying the American market with barware that married accessible luxury with genuine craft.
Golf-themed barware from the 1920s occupies a distinct collecting niche at the intersection of sporting memorabilia and decorative arts, and embossed rather than engraved examples — where the decoration is integral to the metal rather than applied — are significantly more desirable. This example, in very good condition with strong plate, is a superior representative of the form.
MAKER: Apollo Silver Co. (Bernard Rice's Sons), New York DATE: Patented May 13, 1924 MATERIALS: Silver plate; cork MARKS: "PAT'D. MAY 13, 1924" to base patent plaque; maker's number 4949 to body
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