Vintage sterling silver tazza plate in yellow and black enamel by Earl Pardon, circa 1955. The plate is 16cm in diameter, stands 3cm tall and weighs 188g. The enamel has two very small and one larger chip on the edge of the plate. Designed by Earl Pardon while he was the design director at Towle as a part of a series of modernist enamel holloware.
This footed plate features an abstract design in the middle of the yellow enamel with a black enamel border. Earl Pardon was one of the pioneers of the post-World War II studio craft movement, in the early 1950s Pardon was instrumental in developing wide interest in art jewelry. Trained as a fine artist rather than in traditional jewelry making, he maintained an interest in painting and sculpture that influenced his work with metals, and vice versa. For much of his four-decade-long career, Pardon worked simultaneously as a painter, sculptor, and jewelry maker. Enamelling provided a logical means of integrating his interests in painting and studio jewelry. His work can be found in museums across America including the Smithsonian and The Met.
