Peer Smed

Jewel Stern, Modernism in American Silver, New Haven, 2005, p. 159 (for a discussion of Smed's designs for the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York, 1931)

Peer Smed, before settling in Brooklyn in 1909, crafted silver housewares for Dutch and Swedish royal families, and continued his Danish-inspired designs in America. When the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel opened in 1931, the managing director Lucius Boomer selected Smed for the flatware and hollowware designs; not surprisingly Smed also fashioned decorative iron pieces for Boomer’s New York residence. Smed employed elegant floral motifs in the oak leaf handles, and a thoughtful detail – tendrils wrapped under the dish – reflect his subtle sensibilities.