My article on silversmith Frederick Miller appears in the July/August issue of Silver Magazine (http://www.silvermag.com/). An excerpt is below. If you'de like a photocopy of the article please let me know, -Alan.
. . . A 1953 American Artist magazine article by fellow Cleveland craftsman Edward Winter explained that, through his mastery of the stretching technique, Miller “learned to free design from the conventional round and rectangular shapes and to develop free forms that seemed to him better suited to the contemporary mode.”10 Miller himself stated that “silver, when you work it, seems almost human, as if it understood you and tried to help.”11 Miller’s analogy of sapience was reflected in the anthropomorphism of his asymmetrical bowls, raised on pointed ebony or ivory legs, suggestive of crouching beings stalking their prey.. . . Critics and curators concurred that Miller’s studio creations were exceptional. William Milliken, who purchased a number of Miller’s pieces for the Cleveland Museum of Art, described his work in 1956 as “superlative in its workmanship . . . emphasizing perfection of form for their quality and effect,” adding that his pieces were “completely contemporary in approach.” . . .
