The Mackay Service: A Pair of Silver-gilt and Enamel Punch Cups, Tiffany & Co., New York, 1877-78

the bulbous bodies raised on shaped bases, decorated with the Mackay coat of arms flanked by thistles, foliage and arabesques in red, purple, royal blue, black and "Tiffany Blue" translucent and opaque champlevé enamel, the angular handles cast with climbing ferns

John W. and Marie Louise (Hungerford) MacKay

Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1878

Charles H. Carpenter, Jr., Tiffany Silver, pp. 48-58
John Loring, Tiffany's 150 Years, pp. 60-63.
Charles L. Venable, Silver in America, 1840-1940, a Century of Splendor, p. 127.

The Mackay service is perhaps Tiffany's most important service of all time.  It was ordered by John W. Mackay, Irish-born prospector, who in 1873 discovered the Comstock Lode near Virginia City, Nevada.  The 14,719 ounces of silver required for the service was supplied directly from the lode.  The pieces were designed by Charles Grosjean, responsible for Tiffany's Chrysanthemum and Lap Over patterns.  It was enamelled in the "Indian" style and displayed the monogram of Mackay's wife Marie Louise and the arms of Hungerford, her maiden name.  The service was shown at the Paris Exposition of 1878 where it was described in The Daily Graphic on 25 May 1878 as follows: "Conspicuous in the American Department is the splendid exhibit of Messrs. Tiffany & Co. whose silverware is incontestably the finest, in point of design and workmanship, in the exhibition.  Prominent among the articles that they display is a magnificent service manufactured by them for the Bonanza King, Mr. & Mrs. J.W. Mackay.  This gorgeous set, on which thier workman have been employed for over two years, comprises several hundred pieces... This splendid service alond would form a very full exhibit." (Charles H. Carpenter, Jr., Tiffany Silver, p. 50)

Charles H. Carpenter states that the service consisted of about 1,250 pieces, fitted in nine mahogany and walnut chests, of which 1,023 were listed in a silver bound book tat accompanied the service.  It is said that it took 200 men two years to complete the service, thus over one million man hours.  The Mackays used theri service in entertaining at their residences at 9 Rue de Tilsett, Paris, and 6 Carlton House Terrace, London.

A set of twelve silver-gilt and enamel coffee cups and saucers from the Mackay service was sold Sotheby's, New York, 28 January 1994, lot 557, now in the collection of the late Mrs. Iris Schwartz.  Additionally, two lots of eight silver-gilt and enamel punch cups having belonged to the Masco Corporation were sold in these rooms on 20 January 1998, lots 24, 25.