How can Tiffany be so gloried and honored in Jewelry World? With striking new designs or with new flourishes to renowned patterns. It is definitely a good answer, but not complete.
Since 1837, Charles Lewis Tiffany (1812-1902) founded Tiffany & Co., he brought the best of all worlds—exotic finds from China, India and Europe, royal jewels, lavishly chased sterling silver—to a captivated and ever growing clientele.
How comes the sterling silver?A man is very imprtant- New York silversmith John C. Moore. In 1851 the company signed an agreement with leading New York silversmith John C. Moore to make hollowware pieces.Tiffany crafted abundant metal into opulent designs that epitomized the sumptuous décor and dining habits of the Gilded Age. The varied motifs were derived from Moore’s vast design library. His countless volumes on architecture, horticulture and metallurgy, as well as collections of Japanese lacquer, Islamic glass, Middle and Far Eastern tiles and textiles, and European porcelains, formed the basis of the “Tiffany School,” America’s first school of design.
From then on, much attention was paid to the company’s innovative Japanesque-style silver, designs of a refined simplicity with hammered surfaces, applied three-dimensional flora and fauna, and inlaid mixed metals. Unsurpassed in the history of American silver, Tiffany’s Japanesque silver had an important and modernizing influence on American and European decorative arts.Tiffany’s silver entry at the 1878 fair also included the spectacular Mackay dinner-and-dessertservice for 24, one of the most elaborate silver table services ever produced. Created from a half-ton of silver sent by prospector John Mackay from his Comstock Lode mines in Nevada, the 1,250-piece service, including hollowware and flatware, was developed from flower-encrusted Persian and Indian motifs, with thistles, shamrocks, and American flowers. The service took two years and 200 craftsmen to complete.
These historic achievements established Tiffany as the unchallenged master of American silver design and represent the highest standards of quality and craftsmanship that direct Tiffany silversmiths today.
