EDWARD C. MOORE (1827-1891) FOR TIFFANY & CO (1873-1891)

Pitcher and Pair of Beakers
circa 1875-78
silver, in the Japanesque taste, with niello and patinated copper decoration, the pitcher with presentation engraving to 'Sir Philip Cunliffe Owen Universal Exposition Paris 1878', stamped 'Tiffany & Co Makers Sterling Silver Makers M', with design number '3858' for 1875-1876, and inventory number '9319', each of the beakers stamped with French 1st standard mark for silver
height of pitcher 8 1/in (21.7cm); height of beakers 4 1/2in (11.5cm)

Footnotes

The present lot is an example of the renaissance and modernization that decorative art was undergoing in America and Europe during the second half of the nineteenth century. This presentation pitcher and beakers speaks not only to Edward C. Moore's stunning artistic and creative achievements as Director at Tiffany & Co. but also to the emergence, influence, and popularity of the International Exhibitions during the early period of the 'Gilded Age'.

Trained under his father, John Chandler Moore (1803-1874), Edward C. Moore was a highly skilled silversmith who worked exclusively for Tiffany & Co. beginning in 1851 and lasting until his death in 1891. Moore combined his prodigious technical talent with a passion for discovering new decorative vocabularies outside the Western canon, particularly Islamic and Japanese design. During the second half of the nineteenth century and the early years of Moore's career, International Exhibitions or World's Fairs as they were to be known, arose as highly popular events for a wide variety of culturally focused design sensibilities to be shared and disseminated, as well as commercial opportunities for firms like Tiffany & Co. to showcase their achievements in developing new wares of decorative art and design. Although the chief silver designer for Tiffany, Moore had a modest, retiring personality, and would shy away from taking any credit for Tiffany's achievements at these exhibitions.

The pitcher on offer was created by Moore sometime between 1875 and 1876 and may have been exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876. During this period, Moore was heavily influenced by Japanese decorative art, with which he had become familiar at previous International Exhibitions and during trips to London and Paris where Tiffany & Co. had established stores. Accompanied by Tiffany's European design partner, Gideon F.T. Reed, Moore was introduced to other influencers such as the famed Parisian dealer Siegfried Bing and the Orientalist firm of Landros & Company in London.

Through these associations, Moore acquired works to add as references to his increasing decorative art collection and was introduced to local ateliers and design firms from which he could study new manufacturing techniques and scout apprentices to work at what was known as his 'School' at Tiffany. In this period he met Dr. Chrstopher Dresser, who was then buying wares for Landros & Company in Asia. Impressed with his knowledge and experience of the continent, Moore hired Dresser as a buyer for Tiffany & Co. on his next trip to Japan in 1876, from which he would return with a wealth of functional and decorative objects for inspiration. This delivery would mark a shift in Moore's designs and techniques and is illustrated in the decoration of this pitcher, which might pre-date Dresser's delivery. The use of flattened black niello and patinated copper on silver with a two-dimensional, graphic approach to decoration is reminiscent of Dresser's own use of Japanese stylizations. Moore also adapted Dresser's use of bold geometric forms in combination with intricate and delicate chasing and engraving, as seen in the handle and the band that wraps around the pitcher's base.

However, the works that Moore would show at the Exposition Universelle in Paris two years later, in 1878, were significantly different. The fishing baskets and storage sacks that Dresser had brought back from Japan would influence Moore to soften the forms of his designs, and the meshwork of these objects could have inspired Moore to introduce his hand-hammered finish on the surfaces. Moore's careful study of the techniques of other silversmiths and metalworkers from Europe and Japan enabled him to introduce raised applied decorative elements to his hollowares. With designs that stayed closer to the works of Katsushika Hokusai, Moore introduced tendrils, gourds, and bugs in 'mixed metals', and these new wares were decorated with gold, patinated alloys, and other additional decorative elements such as the Japanese metalware technique, mokume-gane. Each element was skillfully applied over the new softened forms. The differences are apparent in a photograph taken before the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1878. In this image, we see the present lot before it was inscribed (pre-1878), alongside a new pitcher, model 5051 (which sold at Bonhams, New York, June 2018, lot 9). This clearly shows the significant changes that Moore was able to achieve in only two years.

Moore and Tiffany & Co. were given a gold award and the grand prize for silverware in Paris in 1878. This elevated the company to become the world's leading silversmith and drew acknowledgment from Dr. Christopher Dresser, who described Tiffany & Co. as the 'first silversmiths of the world'. This recognition was perhaps the pinnacle of Tiffany's achievements on the world's stage: an American firm striving to near the decorative achievements of Europe and Japan but, under Moore's direction, ultimately surpassing them.

The present lot was presented to Sir Philip Cunliffe-Owen (1828-1894) at the Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1878. Sir Philip represented British interests in all the International Exhibitions since he had worked as superintendent of the British section of the Exposition Universelle held in Paris in 1855. He later worked as Director of Foreign Sections at the London International Exhibition in 1862 before becoming Executive Commissioner for the Philadephia Centennial Exhibition in 1876 and the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1878, reporting directly to Edward Prince of Wales. Sir Philip would eventually be named Director of the South Kensington Museum in 1882, serving until his death in 1891, when the museum was split and was renamed the Victoria & Albert Museum.

It could be presumed that the present lot was a personal gift from Moore to Sir Philip in recognition of his work on International Exhibitions. The two beakers appear to have been added to the pitcher to make a larger presentation, as they are not marked for Tiffany & Co., rather being stamped with French first standard silver marks, dictating that they were made in France. However, these are undeniably made by the same hands, and it can be further presumed that Moore made these beakers and engraved the pitcher in Paris sometime before or during the Exposition Universelle of 1878. Together, they represent a bridge in Tiffany's developments between Philadelphia's Centennial Exhibition of 1876 and the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1878 and the significant influence that these highly successful International Exhibitions had on the decorative arts in a period of feverish modernization.