Codie Lyons
Associate Specialist
Property of Various Owners
Lot 4
TWO IMPORTANT AMERICAN STERLING SILVER FIGURAL "GOLD RUSH" BOXES by Tiffany & Co., New York, NY, 1879
16 November 2021, 10:00 PST
Los AngelesSold for US$62,812.50 inc. premium
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TWO IMPORTANT AMERICAN STERLING SILVER FIGURAL "GOLD RUSH" BOXES
by Tiffany & Co., New York, NY, 1879
The smaller with mining instruments and supplies at base of rock, the larger topped with a mining figure, each with hinged lid; heights 3 1/8in (8cm) and 6in (15cm); total weight approximately 36oz troy.
The smaller with mining instruments and supplies at base of rock, the larger topped with a mining figure, each with hinged lid; heights 3 1/8in (8cm) and 6in (15cm); total weight approximately 36oz troy.
Footnotes
Beginning in 1848, the discovery of gold and silver known as the California Gold Rush (1948-1855) shaped the undeveloped landscape of the American West. Arriving in covered wagons, clipper ships, and on horseback, around 300,000 migrants referred to as "forty-niners" (named for the year they began to arrive in California, 1849,) flooded the West in search of riches. In the late 1850's and 1860's, miners began to explore other regions of the West and found silver and gold in Nevada and Colorado.
Following these discoveries of precious metals, there were subsequent 'rushes' to Idaho and Montana in the 1860s, and the Black Hills of South Dakota in the 1870s. The newly discovered abundant supply of silver allowed the most important Silversmiths of the time to produce exquisite works over the decades that followed. More importantly, they were able to create true works of Americana -- silverwares made from domestic resources, by domestic fabricators, and in this instance, in commemoration and celebration of the watershed events that shaped the entire Western region.
These important works, created in 1879 by Tiffany & Co., under the leadership of Edward Moore, are a premier example of the fine works created in the crucible of this specific moment in history. Moore was known for making Tiffany successful during his period of leadership because of his unparalleled creativity and designs. Each work is a figural hinged-lid keepsake box of rugged and rocky design. The larger has a mining figure who has just swung his pick to the ground -- an image that is synonymous with The Gold Rush. The smaller box has a miner's tools and belongings including a pick-axe, a shovel, a barrel, and a mug at the base of the craggy mound.
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