Conch Legged Silver Bowl

A round silver bowl raised on three hollow "conch" legs - the legs shaped to evoke the conch shell, one of the natural Mexican forms Spratling abstracted into modern design as Stromberg describes (p. 27). Made in several sizes, it was one of the workshop's enduring holloware forms.

Its commercial reach is documented: the bowl was offered through Montgomery Ward at $25.00 in 1943 for a 6 3/4-inch example, during the 1943-46 years when Spratling silver appeared in the retailer's catalogues (Morrill, p. 257). The conch-shell legs turn a functional support into the design's signature.

The design has been reissued, continuing in production after the original years.

It is recorded across the major references, including Morrill and Berk's Mexican Silver, Morrill's Maestros de Plata, La Platería Mexicana, and Goddard's field guide.