Peer Smed (1878 – November 17, 1943) was a Danish-American

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary great ...

and metalworker, active in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Smed was born as Peer Schmidt in Copenhagen, where he trained with the royal silversmiths as a peer to

Georg Jensen Georg Arthur Jensen (31 August 1866 in Rådvad – 2 October 1935 in Copenhagen) was a Danish silversmith and founder of Georg Jensen A/S (also known as Georg Jensen Sølvsmedie). Early life Born in 1866, Jensen was the son of a knife grin ...

. In 1903 he immigrated to the United States, where he opened a gold chasing business on Maiden Lane in

. He remained in New York until 1907, then returned to Denmark, but in 1909 moved again to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

where he established his workshop at 176 Johnson Street. There he produced handcrafted silver and metalwork until late in his life when he moved to 30 Irving Place in New York City. His New York Times obituary described him "as a gold carver, a silversmith and as a designer of iron grilles," but he also worked in copper and bronze, and even ivory. In addition, he acted as an industrial designer for Tiffany & Co. and the

International Silver Company The International Silver Company (1898–1983, stopped making silver), also known as the ISC, was formed in Meriden, Connecticut as a corporation banding together many existing silver companies in the immediate area and beyond. Formation of ...

. He also created the flatware and holloware for the

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultze ...

in 1932, working with Frederick William Stark, and made the bronze doors designed by

William Zorach William Zorach (February 28, 1889 – November 15, 1966) was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, and writer. He won the Logan Medal of the arts. He is notable for being at the forefront of American artists embracing cubism, as well as for ...

for the entrance to the

Schwarzenbach Buildings Schwarzenbach may refer to: Places In Austria * Schwarzenbach, Lower Austria, in the Wiener Neustadt-Land district * Schwarzenbach an der Pielach, in Lower Austria * Schwarzenbach (Eppenstein), a part of Eppenstein in Styria * Schwarzenbach ...

. His work is collected in the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

Brooklyn Museum of Art The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, and

Dallas Museum of Art The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Art ...

References

"Bowl, 1941, Peer Smed"
Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Chicago Silver. * "PEER SMED; Silversmith Won Honors From Kings of Denmark, Sweden", ''New York Times'' obituary, November 20, 1943, page 13, see also November 19, 1943, page 19. {{DEFAULTSORT:Smed, Peer 1878 births 1943 deaths American silversmiths Danish silversmiths 20th-century Danish metalsmiths Danish emigrants to the United States People from Brooklyn