In the spring of 2010 the Sterckshof Silver Museum is mounting an
exhibition about the Brussels-based silver manufacturer Delheid Frères.
The exhibition and accompanying publication put the spotlight on one
of Belgium’s most important nineteenth and twentieth-century silver
manufacturers, thereby bringing the company out of the shadow of its
lifelong competitor Wolfers Freres for the first time.
The Delheid 1828–1980 exhibition sheds light on the history of this Brussels
silver company from its foundation by Michel Delheid through the Delheid
Frères heyday during the interwar period to its last production lines in the
1960s and 1970s.
Historic documents, photographs, sale catalogues, publicity material, design
sketches and gypsum moulds shed light on Delheid Frères’ production
process and sales strategy. For years you could purchase or order Delheid
Frères’ quality silverware from silver shops like Van Damme in Bruges, Van
Regemorter in Brussels and Ruys-Ramboux in Antwerp, including tableware,
trophies and cult objects from neo-baroque to art nouveau, from art deco
through modernism to design and from silver to Sivar and Rhodargo.
Delheid Frères achieved international success between the wars particularly
with its art-deco designs. Today that success is endorsed by the antiques
and museum sector. It is less widely known that the company also produced
interesting art-nouveau silver.
Delheid Frères did not shirk from commissions from outside the regular
circuit. For example, in 1930 the Brussels silver company created a sceptre
for the Emperor of Ethiopia and in the 1960s and 1970s it made trophies for
the famous television game show It’s a Knock-out (Jeux sans Frontières).
Sterckshof Silver Museum is presenting objects by Delheid Frères from its
own collection, from private collections and museums at home and abroad
(e.g. Amsterdam, Berlin and Utrecht) and from the Royal Collection
Related Links:
