A SILVER AND MIXED-METAL VASE

MAKER'S MARK OF TIFFANY & CO., NEW YORK, CIRCA 1878

Details

A SILVER AND MIXED-METAL VASE
Maker's mark of Tiffany & Co., New York, circa 1878
Of Mei ping form, on four bracket feet, the spot-hammered surface applied with panels of mokume, above silver-splashed copper and gold pods alternating with silver, copper and two-color gold pawlonia, marked under base 5301/9398 and on one foot with French control mark
11in. high; gross weight 31oz.
Tiffany & Co.

Sale room notice

This vase is illustrated in John Culme, Nineteenth Century Silver, 1977, p. 194.

Lot Essay

This vase, combining the difficult technique of mokume with a vocabulary of applied mixed-metal motifs, is related to the monumental Conglomerate Vase, which was exhibited at the Paris L'Exposition Universelle in 1878. Like the Conglomerate Vase, the present vase displays Tiffany's proficiency with Japanese techniques for working in colored alloys. Christie's New York sold the Conglomerate Vase on January 26, 1995, lot 357 and Sotheby's New York sold it on January 20, 1998, lot 44.

This vase is listed in the Tiffany pattern book as using 30.25 oz. of sterling, with an overall manufacturing cost of $130.