Description
AN AMERICAN SILVER AND MIXED-METAL BEER JUG
circa 1880
the body applied with silver and copper fish and engraved with a dragonfly, snail, and seaweed, the handle applied with copper and gold water plants, the cover applied with a silver lizard and beetle, marked on base "TIFFANY & C0 MAKERS STERLING SILVER AND OTHER METAL” and numbered 3077-9721, further struck with the hammering and mounting design numbers 104 and 392; with post‑1864 French import mark
Tiffany & Co., New York
Silver and mixed metals
height 9 1/4 in.
27 oz 2 dwt
Condition Report
In good condition, with typical signs of age and wear.
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colors and shades which are different to the lot's actual color and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation. The condition report is a statement of opinion only. For that reason, the condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS ONLINE CONDITION REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE.
Literature
Charles H.Carpenter and Mary Grace Carpenter, "Tiffany Silver", revised edition,
Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, San Francisco,1997, pp.166 and 167, pl. 263.
Catalogue Note
Among Tiffany's mixed-metal works of the 1870s and 80s, jugs with this profile were one of the most popular and successful. The addition of a shaped and decorated cover makes this example especially uncommon—presumably this was for beer.
A pitcher of similar form and similar decoration, but without lid, is illustrated in an original 1870s photograph from Tiffany's archives in Charles H. Carpenter and Marcy Grace Carpenter's "Tiffany Silver". The authors remark of this item:
One of the most admired pieces at the Paris Exposition [of 1878] was the water pitcher... Drawings of this piece were reproduced in publication all over the world, giving wide publicity to the Japanese style. Tiffany's plant records show that several dozen versions of this pitcher were made in the 1870s and 1880s.
