Lot Essay
TIFFANY, THE JAPONISME STYLE AND THE 1878 INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION
The present salver is in the Japonisme style, a term created in 1872 by the French art critic Philippe Burty to describe Western art influenced by Japan. Japanese ports had been opened to the West a few years earlier, with the United States and Japan having signed a trade treaty in 1854. Through trade and travel, American artists experienced the forms, motifs and decorative vocabulary of Japanese design, especially through prints, ceramics and other works of art, resulting in this new innovative Japonisme style.
Two American firms, Gorham in Rhode Island and Tiffany in New York, specialized in this new style, creating the first pieces in silver in the early 1860s. Tiffany specifically excelled in the creation of Japanese inspired works under Director of the Design department Edward C. Moore (1827-1891), who formed an impressive collection of Japanese works of art, later bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum of New York in 1891. Moore had first admired the display of Japanese works of art in Paris at the Exposition Universelle in 1867, at which Tiffany was also exhibiting for the first time.
In 1878, Tiffany exhibited for the first time their Japonisme silver at the Paris Exposition Universelle. Held from May 1st to October 31st, on the Champ de Mars, it was attended by sixteen millions of visitors from all around the world. The novelty and beauty of the designs led to the company being awarded a Gold Medal by the Grand Jury for their hammered and mixed metal work.
The present salver is in the Japonisme style, a term created in 1872 by the French art critic Philippe Burty to describe Western art influenced by Japan. Japanese ports had been opened to the West a few years earlier, with the United States and Japan having signed a trade treaty in 1854. Through trade and travel, American artists experienced the forms, motifs and decorative vocabulary of Japanese design, especially through prints, ceramics and other works of art, resulting in this new innovative Japonisme style.
Two American firms, Gorham in Rhode Island and Tiffany in New York, specialized in this new style, creating the first pieces in silver in the early 1860s. Tiffany specifically excelled in the creation of Japanese inspired works under Director of the Design department Edward C. Moore (1827-1891), who formed an impressive collection of Japanese works of art, later bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum of New York in 1891. Moore had first admired the display of Japanese works of art in Paris at the Exposition Universelle in 1867, at which Tiffany was also exhibiting for the first time.
In 1878, Tiffany exhibited for the first time their Japonisme silver at the Paris Exposition Universelle. Held from May 1st to October 31st, on the Champ de Mars, it was attended by sixteen millions of visitors from all around the world. The novelty and beauty of the designs led to the company being awarded a Gold Medal by the Grand Jury for their hammered and mixed metal work.