Holder on Ebony Base

A silver holder rising from an ebony base, its two sides each set with seven silver circles, this object makes Spratling's signature applied-dot motif its entire decorative scheme. It is recorded in Penny Morrill's William Spratling and the Mexican Silver Renaissance and in Phyllis Goddard's field guide.

The seven silver circles to a side are the playful, sophisticated dots Morrill identifies as a Spratling staple (Morrill, p. 73), and the ebony base supplies the dark-wood-against-silver contrast he favored throughout his hollowware (Morrill, p. 224). The repetition gives a small functional object a measured rhythm.

The design was among the objects shown in "The World of William Spratling," the exhibition that toured the United States in 1965 (Morrill, p. 77).