In 1891, the Gorham Company hired William C. Codman to serve as chief designer and, under his direction, they introduced a line of hand-wrought silver that would take the would by storm. The lavish new line was dubbed Martelé, meaning “to hammer” in French. They introduced the line in 1900 at the Paris Exposition Universelle where it was met with critical acclaim. This rare four-piece Martelé serling coffee service by Gorham, according to factory records, required an amazing 356 hours to craft. Inspired by the Art Nouveau movement, Martelé silver became the crowning achievement for a company already rich with the rewards of their work. Martelé pieces were very labor intensive, entirely hand crafted by only the finest smiths at the Gorham Co