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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 A Curator's Viewpoint
 Gold
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| Author | Topic: Gold |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 08-04-2003 08:53 AM
  
The one really great "silver" object I managed to acquire for my museum in Newark this year--before our funds disappeared (because of the "good" economy) was in fact gold. At auction at Christie's in January, we purchased a three-piece coffee set, dated 1897, made by Tiffany & Co. And, it is 18-karat gold. It was a golden wedding anniversary gift from a husband to a wife, and has a beautiful inscription. Subsequently, contacting the consignor, we were lucky enough to get her to donate to us the matching sugar tongs, which she'd kept for sentiment's sake. Solid gold holloware is very rare, usually fairly dull in design (this set is very pretty, sort of Louis XV-meets-colonial revival). I know of a few sets in museum collections, all by Tiffany (Museum of the CIty of New York, Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, Yale U. Art Gallery, Tiffany Archives, NJ). Does anyone else know of other gold holloware? IP: Logged |
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June Martin Forum Master Posts: 1326 |
posted 08-04-2003 08:28 PM
Wow, this sounds like yet another good reason to visit the Newark Museum. Is the set on display yet? IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 08-05-2003 08:55 AM
I am hoping to get the set properly accessioned and on view by the end of the summer (I know right where it will go). But it is not out yet. I'll see if I can post a picture of it, with your help. IP: Logged |
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Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 |
posted 08-05-2003 11:05 AM
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Patrick Vyvyan Posts: 640 |
posted 08-14-2003 01:38 PM
Gold holloware? Who could possibly face a boiled egg in the morning without this?:  The description is: Bird nest. Rare 18 Karat gold and diamond breakfast egg set for two, made for Sultan Hamid II of Turkey, Mappin & Webb, London 1900. Designed as a circular basket with wheat sheaf and bead borders, decorated with a textured gold chick set with rose-cut diamonds and cabochon ruby eyes, perched on the rim beside a salt cellar designed as the lower half of an egg shell, the basket also containing a pair of egg cups, similarly designed as egg shells each with a separate glass interior, each cup engraved with a crest of military trophies and orders bearing the Tougra for Sultan Hamid II, the basket applied on the front with the same crest accented with a cushion-shaped diamond weighing 8.04 carats, diameter 4.5 inches; height 3.5 inches. English hallmarks and monogram MnWb for Mappin and Webb. Accompanied by two 18-karat gold teaspoons and a salt spoon, en suite, the wheat sheaf handles set with rose-cut diamonds. The address: <gone from the internet> IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 08-18-2003 10:01 AM
Pretty fabulous. And just the right period, too. 1897 was the year the Yukon gold strikes were made, I think, which created a whole new wave of gold things in the USA. I suspect that all over the non-Asian world (but I'd include India as well) there was a call for solid gold tablewares between 1890-1910. IP: Logged |
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Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 |
posted 08-18-2003 11:52 AM
It's not really hollowware, but on eBay awhile ago there was a Gorham ivory-handled 14k tea strainer. I think it was from about 1900. IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 08-18-2003 12:25 PM
And these are as rare as hen's teeth, too. Interesting to see gold by Gorham, because they seem to have made less than Tiffany. I knew of a great gold punch ladle by Seymour (a Syracuse maker) a while back, which sadly was stolen from the dealer. It was superb and had great engraving. I'd love to know about more gold (not gilded) flatware. IP: Logged |
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Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 |
posted 08-18-2003 06:55 PM
The other interesting gold item I remember seeing on eBay was a 14k coffee spoon by Dominick & Haff in their 1892 Mazarin pattern. I thought this was even more interesting than the Gorham tea strainer because of the maker (I had only seen D & H use gold as accents on some of the Aesthetic mixed metals type pieces, whereas I had seen other pieces of Gorham gold flatware--for example, eBay #2547705154). Also, Mazarin isn't the world's nicest flatware pattern, so I wondered why D & H would have picked that design for a 14k spoon (unless it was custom ordered). I will say, though, the pattern looked a lot nicer to me in gold than in silver. By the way, Ulysses, I think I know which Joseph Seymour ladle you refer to. It was a superb piece. I wasn't aware it had been stolen, though. What a shame. [This message has been edited by Paul Lemieux (edited 08-18-2003).] IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 08-19-2003 09:30 AM
I have seen other sets of gold demitasse spoons (not recently); the ones on eBay are absolutely typical, especially in that they are dull, dull, dull. So that supports my thesis, at least for American gold. This is fun. Any more? IP: Logged |
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Patrick Vyvyan Posts: 640 |
posted 08-19-2003 11:01 AM
Although some 80 years earlier than the Yukon, the inkstand commissioned by Viscount Castelreagh from Paul Storr and Philip Rundell, and using gold in part from 21 snuff boxes given to him by the Crowned Heads of Europe, was recently acquired by London's Victoria & Albert Museum. More details here: Castlereagh's inky memorial IP: Logged |
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Brent Posts: 1507 |
posted 08-19-2003 12:06 PM
I seem to recall seeing a pair of Wood & Hughes gold goblets with engravings of trains in a relatively modern reference book. For the life of me I can't remember what book; does that ring a bell with anyone? If I remember correctly, the thought was that the goblets had been commissioned for a special occasion, but were never presented and remained unengraved. Brent IP: Logged |
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Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 |
posted 08-19-2003 03:58 PM
This is a great topic. At a shop in Boston there was pair of Gorham 14k demitasse spoons from their Zodiac line (1894) of flatware. They were quite a bit nicer than those dozen demitasse spoons I posted the eBay number for. They were on the dealer's website for awhile, but they must have sold as they are no longer there. I have seen a few English 9k gold napkin rings at shops and on eBay but I don't find these as interesting as American 14k flatware/hollowware.] IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 08-19-2003 04:02 PM
There is a single Tiffany 18k gold teaspoon or coffee spoon(4.75"L) on eBay right now. IP: Logged |
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Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 |
posted 08-19-2003 04:06 PM
There is also a boxed Tiffany 18k St. Dunstan pattern serving spoon on eBay right now (2550888945). IP: Logged |
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akgdc Posts: 289 |
posted 08-19-2003 10:39 PM
There's an amusing passage in the memoirs of the great French silver dealer Jacques Helft where he talks about all the exiled Russian aristos in Paris after 1917, reminiscing about the days when they went to the Winter Palace and dined off the Tsar's solid-gold dinner service: plates, flatware, finger bowls and all. Helft knew the service well, and it was only silver-gilt. But he could never convince all those nostalgic grand duchesses that they were wrong. Ulysses, I'm curious about what the inscription is on this coffee service -- and who commissioned it. And does it look like it was ever actually used? Personally, I think any coffee would taste better with 18-karat gold. Don't try to tell us you haven't tested whether the pot still works. [This message has been edited by akgdc (edited 08-19-2003).] IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 08-20-2003 09:05 AM
The set was commissioned by William M. Kingsland for his wife, Mary Macy Kingsland, sister of Josiah Macy, Jr. Kingsland was a New York businessman, and his wife was an heiress to the Macy shipping and oil fortune (the Macys being old Nantucket ship captains, and subsequently early partners with J. D. Rockefeller in Standard Oil). The couple had no children, so this set descended through a nephew to the person who consigned it to Christie's. The set looks like it was never used--the surface and the "bloom" around the chasing is pristine, and the engraving is crisp. The surface is a satin matte finish, which is probably achieved by dipping the whole thing in acid at the last, to eliminate everything but a 24k gold surface. This was done on most jewelry, and was called a "Roman Gold" finish. Every piece is inscribed the same way, with elaborate monograms and dates, and on the underside the inscription reads: "From Wm. M. Kingsland to his dear Wife on the Anniversary of their Golden Wedding 1847 September 16th 1897" The tongs, which we were just given by the original consignor, have only the dates and monogram--no room for the inscription. Aside from that, the design is particularly well done, even though it is a fairly un-radical style, the handles are wonderfully wrought with curves (there is a sort of Y join to the bodies), and the ivory spacers are carved with swirled lines to meet the reeding on the handles. You can't see it in the picture, but the quality of the design is masterful, if conservative. Also, the set is very SMALL--the coffee pot is only 8.75"H. This is definitely something that one person would have used--Mrs. Kingsland's maid would have brought it up to her in the morning, or after dinner, perhaps to share a demitasse with her beloved hubby. People like the Kingslands didn't need to impress their friends--this was a love token, and that's what makes it a real dazzler for this curator. IP: Logged |
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feniangirl Posts: 36 |
posted 09-01-2003 11:46 PM
Until reading about your gold tea set, I'd never really thought about gold "silverware." Someone has just listed a set on Ebay. Tiffany ~ a cased set of 12 teaspoons & tongs,18K, Paragon pattern. $5999 to open! IP: Logged |
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Brent Posts: 1507 |
posted 09-09-2003 02:46 PM
 Here are some pictures of the gold ladle Ulysses mentioned further up the thread. These were taken at the New York Silver Society dinner a few years ago, in less than ideal lighting conditions. Suffice it to say that it is/was a magnificent piece. The primary motif is a combination of grape leaves and tiny "bubbles", which suggested that it was intended as a champagne ladle, perhaps an anniversary present. The mark is quite unusual. The Seymour attribution is logical, and probably correct, but difficult to prove. Brent IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 07-06-2004 09:29 AM
Sotheby's in their June Americana sale, sold an 18k gold coffee pot from 1898, exhibited at the 1900 World's Fair in Paris, and then given to the Belgian royal family. It brought $28,000 plus premium (19%) and tax. It was very similar in scale and style to the coffee set from 1897 in The Newark Museum (see above threads). IP: Logged |
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