An American Silver 'Martelé' Terrapin Soup Tureen and Cover with Twelve Soup Bowls, Gorham Manufacturing Co., Providence, Rhode Island, 1905

Charles Carpenter, Gorham Silver, 1831-1981, 1982

Katherine Morrison, Collecting American 19th Century Silver, 1968

L.J. Pristo, Martelé, Gorham’s Nouveau Art Silver, 2002, p. 348

This tureen was made by John M. Sorum and Samuel R. Wooley, over 136 hours, then chased by David Wilmot for 158 hours. The net factory price was an impressive $520.

Wilmot was one of the top chasers at Gorham. He started with Gorham in 1875, just two years after arriving in the United States. He was paid paid $32 per week, the highest wage for a chaser until Robert Bain was hired in 1892. Probably relatedly, Wilmot left Gorham in 1894, but returned in 1899, in time to work on several of the most important pieces of Martelé destined for Paris Exposition of 1900, then on pieces for the St. Louis Exposition of 1904. Wilmot continued at Gorham until his retirement in 1925; Gorham scholar Samuel J. Hough described him as "one of the leading artist-chasers" at the company.

The terrapin dishes were made by Josiah Poyton over 8 hours each, then chased by Ernest W. Regester for 20 hours; these were priced at $50 each. The set was finished December 28-29, 1905. Regester was himself the son of a Gorham chaser, Charles W. Regester, who had emigrated from England in 1881 to work for Gorham. His son entered the factory in 1882 as an advanced apprentice. By 1900, Ernest was a chaser on his own, earning $22 a week and working on many Martelé items; the Shelton Collection of Martelé has ten items chased by Regester. He was pensioned off in 1926, having created silver for Gorham for almost fifty years.