An American Silver and Mixed-Metal Tray, Tiffany & Co., New York, Circa 1880

Under the design leadership of Edward C. Moore, Tiffany & Co. produced some of its most innovative and inventive silver. As interest in Japanism swept the United States and Europe in the wake of trade ports opening with Japan in 1854, furthered by the popularity of the Japanese displays at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876, Moore and his team sought to replicate the techniques of their mixed-metal designs. Tiffany & Co. became an international sensation during this time for their new methods of incorporating multicolored alloys into their silver.