MARK OF TIFFANY & CO., NEW YORK, CIRCA 1910

Details

AN AMERICAN SILVER FLATWARE SERVICE
MARK OF TIFFANY & CO., NEW YORK, CIRCA 1910
Lap Over Edge pattern, reverse of handles engraved with scroll monogram JSJ and further engraved with subject of etched decoration, comprising:
Twelve teaspoons
Twelve chowder/gumbo spoons
Twelve coffee spoons
Twelve ice cream forks
Twelve dinner forks
Twelve luncheon forks
Twelve fish forks
Twelve salad forks
Twelve oyster forks
Twelve fruit forks
Twelve dinner knives
Twelve luncheon knives
Twelve fish knives
Twelve fruit knives
Ten butter spreaders
190 oz. 8 dwt. (5,922 gr.) weighable silver

Provenance

Presumably Joseph Lionel Seligman (1877-1944) and Josephine Knowles (1889-1985), New York and Pensacola, Florida, thence by descent to the present owner

Lot Essay

The monogram is likely that of Joseph Lionel Seligman (1887-1944) and his wife Josephine Knowles (1889-1985) who married in Quebec, Canada on 29 June 1911. Seligman was grandson of Joseph Seligman (1819-1880), a German immigrant financier who co-founded the prominent New York investment bank J & W Seligman & Co. in 1860. The firm invested heavily in the construction on major United States railroads as well as the Panama Canal. The firm was also involved in the formation of General Motors and standard Oil.

Josephine Knowles was a native of Pensacola, FL. On 25 April 1929 she was responsible for christening the USS Pensacola ship, named after her hometown.

"Lap Over Edge is generally regarded as the most innovative of Tiffany's flatware patterns" (Tiffany Silver Flatware by William P. Hood, Jr., p. 219).

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