Tiffany & Company, George Paulding Farnham, A Rare, Lavish Silver Centerpiece

Tiffany & Company and George Paulding Farnham, A rare, lavish and monumental sterling silver centerpiece with original mirrored-glass sterling silver plateau, circa 1900.

Museum quality.

In the George III style, designed by Paulding Farnham for Tiffany and Co, New York.

Of palatial and monumental size.

Centerpiece: 15" high x 30" wide x 27" deep
Plateau: 3" high x 39" wide x 34" deep

In excellent condition, ready to place.

Of oval form, the everted rims formed of openwork scrolling classical foliage and bellflower swags, the tops applied with standing scrolling foliage with four silver caryatid female figures, the bases overlaid with acanthus and palmettes. The original, silver mirrored plateau with scrolling open-work.

There is a very similar Silver centerpiece at The Dallas Museum of Art which was displayed as the focus of the Tiffany & Co. exhibit at the 1900 World's Fair in Paris.

World Fairs, or Expositions were opportunities for companies to define themselves to the world.

Another version, completed in 1904, is illustrated by John Loring in Tiffany's 150 Years, pages 124 and 125.

This lavish centerpiece was part of a service containing more than two hundred works in a related pattern. At the time of the Tiffany & Co. exhibit at the 1900 World's Fair in Paris, critics wrote of the George III centerpiece as an example of pure silversmithing in its highest state. The centerpiece is the work of Tiffany's most renowned designer, George Paulding Farnham, who was responsible for the firm's silverware and jewelry designs, often drawing upon his expertise to produce intricately detailed and opulent objects for expositions at the turn of the century.

George Paulding Farnham first started working at Tiffany & Co in 1885 as a general assistant to Edward C. Moore in the design department. By the age of 28 he was 'regarded as Tiffany's young genius of jewelry design' and was put in charge of preparing roughly 200 designs for the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889. His collection of enameled and jeweled gold orchids won him a gold medal and were 'singled out by the press as the most original and outstanding jewels shown at the exposition.

Celebrating the turn of the century, the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris was one of the greatest events of its time, holding the attendance record for World's Fairs with some 50 million visitors. 'Paulding Farnham's Tiffany & Co. displays of jewels and silver once again won the gold medals'.

According to the New York Times, Tiffany & Co. won three gold metals including one for silver:

In their display here, particularly in gems and fine work in precious metal, they have thrown the gauntlet at the feet of the world, and in domestic silverware the most remarkable results are shown. The installation is conspicuous for its artistic beauty and and the elegant articles of luxury shown.

Farnham's best silver designs of the period, have a jewel-like luster and richness to them.

Tiffany & Co., in their archives, retain an image of a centerpiece bowl that is titled 'George III', acknowledging silver of the late 1780's and early 1790's with similar classical decoration. This important centerpiece bowl is now in the collection of the Dallas Museum of Art, very similar to the one offered here.

This stunning centerpiece is marked underneath 'TIFFANY & Co/ MAKERS/ STERLING SILVER/ 925 with further numbers impressed. The plateau is marked 'TIFFANY & Co/ MAKERS/ STERLING SILVER

More photos and video available upon request.