Lona P. Schaeffer

Timothy A. O'Brien and Margo Grant Walsh, Collecting by Design: Silver and Metalwork of the Twentieth Century from the Margo Grant Walsh Collection, Houston, 2008, pp. 66-67 and 78 (for a similar centerpiece)

Overall in very good condition. With light tarnishing that is more pronounced in crevices of fan-form base and triangle design of dish. The thoughtful execution and gently hammered surfaces of this rare example are typical of Lona Schaeffer's work.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Lona P. Schaeffer (b. 1903), the eldest daughter of Danish émigre silversmith Peer Smed, trained in her father's workshop at 176 Johnson Street in Brooklyn, New York.  His studio methods were firmly traditionalist:  he allowed no division of labor, so each piece was made entirely by one smith.  Like some father/daughter makers of American folk art, her style is distinctly redolent of his work, and it is certain that many pieces which bear his mark were wrought by her; their style draws from the weighty, sculptural Danish skonvirke style.  She specialized in jewelry and oversize flatware pieces with jack-in-the-pulpit blossoms and calla lilies for ornament, and her "hand-wrought" stamp emphasizes a deliberate choice not to work from cast molds.   Her pieces were retailed by Shreve, Crump & Low among others.  There are less than ten known examples of her hollowware, all softer and with more scalloping and curvature than her father's work.  Together, the two made some of the only known Arts & Crafts sterling studio hollowware in the 1930s and 1940s to come out of Brooklyn.

--Anna McDonald