Searles Service: an American silver-gilt centrepiece bowl, Tiffany & Co., New York, circa 1884

Edward Frances Searles and Mary Frances Sherwood Hopkins Searles.

The 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 F. Searles, a Herter Brothers decorator, visited the California project 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. There was reason for her haste, as she survived just four years after the wedding, dying in 1891 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" silver table service, order number 4728, was ordered from Tiffany & Co. and 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," and "openwork ornaments,".

The design number 8152 for this bowl places it after the dessert plates and wine coolers (8142 and 8145) in Tiffany's designs for the service.

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.