A Norwegian gilded silver & plique-à-jour enamel Viking boat, David-Andersen, probably designed by Gustav Gaudernack, Oslo, circa 1897-1900. Of traditional form, the boat decorated in translucent shades of red, green, violet, yellow, & blue enamel with flower-inspired round shields around the upper rim, finished with a dragon’s head & tail. Struck on the base with DAVID ANDERSEN in all capital letters, the mark of the firm of David-Andersen as retailer, & 925 silver standard, Dimensions: 3 1/8 in. h x 4 1/2 in. w (8 x 10.3 cm).

Designer Gustav Gaudernack (1865-1914), born inBinsdorf, Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic), completed his studies at the prestigious Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna in 1891. Having been trained primarily as a designer for ceramics, he moved to Oslo in 1891 to take a position at Christiania Glasmagasin as a designer of fine glassware. Shortly thereafter, in 1892, he was hired by the firm of David-Andersen. His designs were awarded medals at the 1900 Exposition internationale in Paris & the 1904 St. Louis World Exposition & are now held in numerous public & private collections in the United States & European. For the drawings for a nearly identical Viking boat by Gaudernack, see Jan-Lauritz Opstad & Rolf Gaudernack, Gustav Gaudernack: En europeer i norsk jugend. Oslo: Kunstindustrimuseet, 1979, no. 76, p. 53.