A SILVER BLACK COFFEE POT
Lot 45

A SILVER BLACK COFFEE POT

MARK OF TIFFANY & CO., NEW YORK, 1880-1891; DESIGNED BY CHARLES OSBORNE

Closed25 January 2010

Price Realised

USD 10,000

More Information

How to sell

A SILVER BLACK COFFEE POT
MARK OF TIFFANY & CO., NEW YORK, 1880-1891; DESIGNED BY CHARLES OSBORNE
Of shaped baluster form, the hammered surface chased with bands of hemispheres and spirals, the faceted handle with synthetic insulators and lobed spout, hinged cover with pod-form finial, marked under base, also marked 6127/2646
6¼ in. high; 11 oz. gross weight

Specialist note

The present lot exhibits the characteristic spiraled pearling of Tiffany designer Charles Osborne. Impressed with the work and vision of Edward C. Moore, Osborne was lured away from his post as chief designer at Whiting Manufacturing Company to take a design position at Tiffany in 1878.

In 1880, Moore showed his designers a Japanese sword sheath with a chasing technique called pearling, in which round pearl-like domes are chased into silver in swirling rows. Osborne's designs for silver began to exhibit this pearling, as in the present lot. For other examples of pearling in Osborne's Tiffany designs, see a tea caddy, coffee pot and ewer, illustrated in John Loring, Magnificent Tiffany Silver, 2001, pp. 173, 176 and 178.