Saint Louis, MO - The Saint Louis Art Museum announces the October 28 opening of Beyond the Maker’s Mark: Paul de Lamerie Silver in the Cahn Collection, an exhibition featuring 46 of the most important pieces, or groups of pieces, of Paul de Lamerie silver held in a private collection. More Than 40 Exquisite Objects on View through January 20. Through their variety, beauty and complexity, the exquisite objects in the exhibition illustrate Paul de Lamerie’s success as a silversmith in 18th-century London.

Widely recognized as England’s most accomplished silversmith, his clientele included wealthy merchants and such powerful politicians as Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first prime minister, and King George I.

Among the spectacular works in the exhibition are the innovative Tureen in the Shape of a Green Turtle and the extraordinary Maynard Dish. Marked by Paul de Lamerie but created by an anonymous silversmith known as the Maynard Master, the Maynard Dish serves as an example of an object made “beyond the maker’s mark”. Through his expertise as both an artist and a businessman, de Lamerie made use of the Maynard Master and other skilled artisans throughout his career.

Beyond the Maker’s Mark: Paul de Lamerie Silver in the Cahn Collection comes to the Saint Louis Art Museum after opening at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and traveling to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art in Memphis, Tennessee. From St. Louis, the exhibition will travel to the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia.

The Saint Louis Art Museum expresses its gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Paul and Elissa Cahn for generously lending their collection to this exhibition. Paul Cahn is the grandson of German silversmith Sacky Richart and acquired his first four pieces of de Lamerie silver in 1990. The Cahns’ superb collection beautifully and comprehensively embodies the artist’s prolific career.

Curated at the Saint Louis Art Museum by David Conradsen, assistant curator of decorative arts and design, Beyond the Maker’s Mark: Paul de Lamerie Silver in the Cahn Collection will be on view in the Main Exhibition Galleries through January 20, 2008. This exhibition is organized and circulated by the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and made possible by the Cahn Family Foundation and FedEx Corporation.

The Saint Louis Art Museum is one of the nation’s leading comprehensive art museums with collections that include works of art of exceptional quality from virtually every culture and time period. Areas of notable depth include Oceanic art, pre-Columbian art, ancient Chinese bronzes and European and American art of the late 19th and 20th centuries, with particular strengths in 20th-century German art. The Museum offers a full range of exhibitions and educational programming generated independently and in collaboration with local, national and international partners.

Admission to the Saint Louis Art Museum is free to all every day. For more information about the Saint Louis Art Museum, call 314.721.0072 or visit www.slam.org .