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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 American Sterling Silver
 Tiffany Spoons - Gold
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| Author | Topic: Tiffany Spoons - Gold |
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DSchwa8473 Posts: 4 |
posted 07-30-2005 10:43 AM
  
[26-0569] Hi! I am new to this forum and hope someone will be able to help me... I have the opportunity to aquire two Tiffany and Co. 18K gold spoons in the San Lorenzo pattern, but I have not been able to find much information. I am a new collector of Tiffany flatware and can't find a thing on San Lorenzo being produced in gold. I would like to do some research on the history...does anyone have an idea where to find this information? The spoons may be of historical significance. Any help is appreciated. I have left a message with T & Co, but time is of the essence. Thanks so much for any assistance... IP: Logged |
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venus Posts: 282 |
posted 07-30-2005 05:25 PM
They did make one of the 4 patterns of this pattern in a gold wash. I will email you the link. IP: Logged |
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DSchwa8473 Posts: 4 |
posted 07-30-2005 05:49 PM
Venus- Thanks for the post and the email. I have checked replacements and found the pattern; unfortunately, when I called them they told me they don't deal with solid gold. I have searched the web and have yet to find one word written about an 18K solid piece in that pattern. Any ideas where one would find out information about solid gold flatware? Thanks again- IP: Logged |
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Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 |
posted 07-30-2005 05:59 PM
I have seen solid gold flatware from several makers, including Tiffany, Gorham, and Dominick & Haff. Mostly coffee spoons, but some teaspoons and even a tea strainer. I think it was just made for wealthier customers to buy as gifts or special keepsakes, rather than for daily use. Probably much of the solid gold flatware was owned in relation to 50th (golden) anniversaries. [This message has been edited by Paul Lemieux (edited 07-30-2005).] IP: Logged |
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Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 |
posted 07-30-2005 06:18 PM
What makes you so sure they are 18k gold? I agree with Paul. The only complete "solid gold" pattern I have ever seen was Olympian and it was marked 14k. I believe 18k would be a bit soft to use for flatware. As it was the 14k set seemed like it was wearing faster than it should. I am sure it was special order. The individual who had the set died many years ago and since it has never come to market, I am guessing it was inherited. I have seen sterling serving pieces with heavy vermeil marked 18k. I have had to wonder where the sterling mark went to and who added the 18k mark? And then why? To be sure they are solid gold without damaging the items there is only one test to use and it is the specific gravity test. IP: Logged |
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wev Moderator Posts: 4121 |
posted 07-30-2005 07:51 PM
I sort of wondered why "...time is of the essence"? Do you have some sort of dead line to meet? IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 08-01-2005 09:26 AM
Tiffany & Co. didn't made any flatware pattern routinely in gold. However, it would make any pattern in gold if you ordered it and paid extra. Newark, where Tiffany's flatware was made from 1894 onward, was also the center of gold refining for the jewelry industry, and gold was easily accessible to them. Tiffany did produce stock sets of things like coffee spoons for 50th anniversary gifts, and there are known coffee sets, usually one of a kind, designed for special anniversaries, etc. The two spoons you have were possibly part of a set of six, or perhaps even a pair made for a couple on their 50th anniversary. 18 karat would not be unlikely for two spoons that wouldn't get much use; such ceremonial gifts became instant heirlooms and would not necessarily suffer the usual wear and tear. IP: Logged |
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DSchwa8473 Posts: 4 |
posted 08-01-2005 09:59 AM
Thanks to all of you for your responses. I have come to the cautious conclusion that these were custom made as a present or part of a set. I really appreciate the response! In regards to time is of the essense...I alluded in my first post that I have the opportunity to acquire the set; as I do not have it yet, it could still be aquired by someone else! Thanks again for all your assistance. IP: Logged |
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Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 |
posted 08-01-2005 10:18 AM
Does anybody have a copy of the latest Maine Antique Digest handy? In one of the featured auctions, an extensive Tiffany solid gold dinner service (I think with some Gorham gold items mixed in) sold for something like $1.3M. IP: Logged |
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blakstone Posts: 493 |
posted 08-01-2005 11:02 AM
There is evidence that Tiffany did indeed make 18 Kt. gold flatware around the time San Lorenzo was introduced (1916), at least on special order. I’ve saved a Sotheby’s catalogue from 1994 not because there’s a chance I’ll ever come across anything like it in my appraisals, but because of its sheer extravagance. (And I think this is the one you mean, Paul.) Commissioned from Tiffany’s in the early 20th century by Elbert H. Gray (1846-1927), founder of U.S. Steel, it’s a full dinner service for eighteen, including: dinner knives & forks, entrée knives & forks, fish knives & forks, soup spoons, oyster forks, salad forks, fruit knives, ice cream spoons & forks, teaspoons, coffee spoons, butter spreaders, service plates, dinner plates, dessert plates, cake plates, bread plates, ice cream dishes, finger bowls, nut dishes, salt cellars, water goblets, champagne goblets, cake stand, ice cream plate & server, fruit bowl, bon-bon dishes, tea set (coffeepot, teapot, creamer, sugar bowl & tray) 6 candlesticks, cigar lighters, ashtrays, grape stand & shears and centerpiece . . . plus various serving pieces. 566 pieces total, weighing 270 pounds . . . all in solid 18 karat gold. The service remained in the family (illegally secreted after the Gold Reserve Act of 1934, which forbade private ownership of such substantial gold items) unknown to historians until its appearance at the 1994 sale. Magnas inter oper inops. IP: Logged |
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carlaz Posts: 239 |
posted 08-16-2005 01:06 PM
Just out of curiosity, are the spoons in question actually marked 18K? I did not see in any responses from the original question posting that they were indeed marked 18k? IP: Logged |
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DSchwa8473 Posts: 4 |
posted 08-16-2005 10:11 PM
Yes, the spoons are clearly marked Tiffany & Co. 18K gold (followed by mark)...and an update - their mine!! : ) Hurrah!! Thanks for all the help, I appreciate it!! Diana Ocala, FL IP: Logged |
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venus Posts: 282 |
posted 08-18-2005 08:40 AM
vry nice Diane... So close to me for me to purchase (sigh) but alas sooooo far away. heh Glad you got sucha nice find lynnda in lake city (told ya I was close) IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 08-18-2005 09:05 AM
Here is an 18k gold coffee set, made in 1897 (there are also matching tongs) as a golden wedding anniversary gift for a rich New York couple. It is clearly marked "18k SOLID GOLD" The Judge Gary (as in Gary, Indiana) service was commissioned. And I doubt that ownership of gold objects was ever forbidden--only gold specie or bullion.  This, after searching in Tiffany's archives, proves to have been a unique commission. I am fairly sure that nothing in the silver line was made routinely in gold, but that anything could be made in gold if the client was willing to pay. IP: Logged |
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