The Hopkins-Searles Service: An American Silver Wine Cooler, Tiffany & Co., New York, the design attributed to Charles Grosjean, 1886

The Hopkins-Searles service was commissioned by Mary Frances Hopkins, widow of California railroad king Mark Hopkins (one of the "Big Four" of Central Pacific.  On his death in 1878, he left her a fortune assessed at over $21 million.  He also left her their palatial residence on San Francisco's Nob Hill, a rambling carpenter Gothic pile with interiors by Herter Brothers of New York.

Edward Searles, a Herter Brothers decorator, visited California in 1882 and quickly became friendly with Mrs. Hopkins, twenty years his senior.  They were married in 1887, though the bride had originally proposed to the groom four years earlier.  Just four years later, she died of dropsy and heart trouble.  Mr. Searles inherited over $30 million, to the exclusion of other heirs.  The former decorator never remarried, and on his death in 1920 left $40 million divided between his young male secretary and the children of his cousin.

The "Gothic" service from Tiffany & Co. was designed by Charles Grosjean beginning probably in 1884; the custom-designed flatware would be patented the following year.  The motifs were "vine leaves and bunches of grapes," "openwork ornaments," and "conventional Gothic ornament...[and] a monogram [MFS for Mary Frances Sherwood/Searles].  These elements appear on the piece offered here, while Tiffany archives show that the wine coolers were among the later elements of the service, being entered in 1886.

For more information on the Searles Saga and elements of the Tiffany Service, see the entry for the sale of the Centerpiece and Plateau, Sotheby's New York, "Important Americana", 18 & 19 January 2008, lot 43.