Lot Essay
A matching yachting game from the Dreamer was sold in these Rooms, January 17, 1992, lot 1.
Thomas W. Lawson (1857-1925) was a self-made financier who had accumulated a net worth of over $50 million by 1900. The son of a carpenter, Lawson became fascinated by speculation while working in a bank in his teens. By age 21, Lawson had turned a few successful investments into his own brokerage firm, and achieved personal wealth of over $10 million by the age of 30. Contemporary newspapers reported Lawson's oil, copper, and sugar deals along with his leisure activities, including the launching of the Dreamer in The New York Times on April 28, 1900. Tiffany & Co.'s records show that the persent yachting game was finished on August 3, 1900, and described as "Puzzle (Mr. T. W. Lawson)." Lawson also commissioned yachting trophies from Tiffany's, most notably the Lawson Cup. Perhaps Lawson's most famous silver purchase was the prize-winning Martele silver dressing table and stool exhibited at the Paris Exposition of 1900, illustrated in Charles Venable, Silver in America, 1994, fig. 9.6, p.256.
Thomas W. Lawson (1857-1925) was a self-made financier who had accumulated a net worth of over $50 million by 1900. The son of a carpenter, Lawson became fascinated by speculation while working in a bank in his teens. By age 21, Lawson had turned a few successful investments into his own brokerage firm, and achieved personal wealth of over $10 million by the age of 30. Contemporary newspapers reported Lawson's oil, copper, and sugar deals along with his leisure activities, including the launching of the Dreamer in The New York Times on April 28, 1900. Tiffany & Co.'s records show that the persent yachting game was finished on August 3, 1900, and described as "Puzzle (Mr. T. W. Lawson)." Lawson also commissioned yachting trophies from Tiffany's, most notably the Lawson Cup. Perhaps Lawson's most famous silver purchase was the prize-winning Martele silver dressing table and stool exhibited at the Paris Exposition of 1900, illustrated in Charles Venable, Silver in America, 1994, fig. 9.6, p.256.