Italian-Australian architect and silver designer, Angiolo Logi, designed this pair of food servers from 1991 to 1992 as part of a ten-piece set of flatware. Moulded in sterling silver, the handles represent eucalyptus leaves and buds, and adjoin the stainless steel heads of a fork and spoon. Angiolo almost always incorporated Australian imagery within his work, revealing his fascination with the Australian landscape and its natural forms.

Migrating from Florence, Italy, to Sydney, Australia, in 1979, Angiolo and his wife, Ilaria Cornaggia, established the silver workshop, 'Puzzle', in the inner-city suburb of Paddington. Here they employed a small team of silversmiths who used traditional techniques to produce Angiolo's Australian-inspired forms. Over the next twenty years, Angiolo and Ilaria would travel regularly around Australia, often with their good friend and landscape photographer, Wesley Stacey, fuelling their interest in local plants and animals and generating ideas for their designs.

While Angiolo sketched and modelled his designs and ran the workshop, Ilaria managed the adjoining gallery that sold the Puzzle merchandise. It also stocked a small range of imported Italian silver by designers, such as Brandimarte, De Vecchi, Pampaloni and Gatto Bianco. Until its closure in 2006, Puzzle remained a popular source of high-quality souvenirs and corporate gifts though also appealed to collectors and the general public.

Italian-Australian silversmith, Angiolo Logi, designed these food servers (large fork and spoon) from 1991-1992 at his studio in Paddington, Sydney. He developed these items as part of a ten-piece set of flatware with sterling silver handles and stainless steel spoons, tines and blades. Representing eucalyptus leaves and buds, the moulded handles reflect Angiolo's interest in Australian flora and natural forms.

Angiolo began all his projects in the same manner, making numerous sketches and models before resolving design and fabrication issues with his small team of silversmiths. He preferred to cast his pieces in limited numbers, using the 'lost wax' technique. In this process, a mould of the silver prototype is cast in rubber and injected with hot wax, creating a direct copy of the original. The wax copy is then encased in a plaster mould and fired, causing the wax to be 'lost' or to melt away while leaving a negative impression behind. Molten silver is poured from a crucible into the mould, which is broken and removed once the metal has cooled. Before it is finished, the silver item is cleaned, filed, sanded and polished.

Angiolo and Ilaria Logi (1954-2009) migrated from Italy to Australia in 1979, and established a silver workshop, 'Puzzle', in the Sydney suburb of Paddington. Puzzle produced a broad range of Australian-inspired items that became popular as corporate gifts and souvenirs. Following the closure of Puzzle in 2006, the Logis donated these food servers and several other items to the Powerhouse Museum.

Food servers and pouch, sterling silver / leather, designed by Angiolo Logi, made by Puzzle Pty Ltd, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1991-1992

A pair of food servers consisting of a large fork and spoon. The silver handles are cast in the form of eucalyptus leaves with seed pods and curling stems. The heads of the fork and spoon are cast in stainless steel. Both food servers are stored in a black, foldout leather pouch.

Designed: Logi, Angiolo; ; 1991 - 1992

Made: Puzzle Pty Ltd; Sydney

See parts

2006/147/9

1991 - 1992