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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 American Sterling Silver
 Tiffany Brooklyn Bridge Souvenir Bon-Bon
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| Author | Topic: Tiffany Brooklyn Bridge Souvenir Bon-Bon |
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Richard Kurtzman Moderator Posts: 768 |
posted 01-07-2009 10:19 PM
  
This is a Tiffany Brooklyn Bridge souvenir bon-bon spoon. It's about 4 7/8" long. I've seen plenty of Tiffany Brooklyn Bridge souvenir teaspoons and once a sugar spoon, but never a bon-bon spoon. It probably dates to 1891 at the latest. Has anyone ever seen this piece? IP: Logged |
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dragonflywink Posts: 993 |
posted 01-08-2009 12:15 PM
Anton Hardt's 2nd book, Adventuring Further in Souvenir Spoons (1965), has a section on Tiffany souvenirs, prefacing it with the revelation that Tiffany initially denied their existence, despite the fact that most collectors have run across them on occasion. Hardt notes that the May 20, 1891 Circular mentions, "Tiffany & Co., New York, have produced several elegant spoons to represent the metropolis and the city of churches. These are the High Bridge, the Trinity Church, two designs, the Washington statues on Union Square and in front of the Sub-Treasury building, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Obelisk and Liberty Enlightening the World, two designs.". He follows up with a listing of souvenir spoons in Tiffany's Blue Books from their first appearance in 1892 (generic "Souvenir Spoons") to the last Blue Book in 1920. Your design was offered as coffee, orange, and tea from 1893 until at least 1905, though orange spoons were not offered in 1907 book, the Brooklyn Bridge and others were still offered in coffee and tea until at least 1917, with the 1920 book only mentioning Silver Souvenir Tea and Coffee Spoons without noting the designs available. No mention is made of any other form of spoon and while I've seen that shape bowl on other Tiffany bonbons, can't say that I recall ever seeing a Tiffany souvenir bonbon spoon - nice piece, and obviously a nice early souvenir with that mark. By far, the most interesting segment of the Tiffany section is Hardt's story of bypassing the Tiffany store in his search for illustrations of the spoons by contacting the Forest Hills (Newark) factory directly. All that could be found, even with the store's later cooperation, were the working drawings for fourteen designs dating from the early 1890s to 1928, unfortunately they do not include the Brooklyn Bridge. They're all reproduced, and include two drawings for the Tiffany Building spoon, apparently designed in 1905 by Paulding Farnham, with some design changes ordered by Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1907, the spoon was seemingly not offered for sale until 1911. ~Cheryl IP: Logged |
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Richard Kurtzman Moderator Posts: 768 |
posted 01-09-2009 12:14 PM
Cheryl, Thanks for the information. I too have seen this form before, but never with this handle design. As I mentioned I've seen a Brooklyn Bridge sugar spoon - very simple and probably early 20th century. None of your source material mentions this either? I know where it is residing and if I get the chance I will retrieve it to photograph. Anyone else have any input on this? IP: Logged |
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dragonflywink Posts: 993 |
posted 01-09-2009 01:15 PM
The Tiffany souvenirs aren't common and few show up in reference books, but will do a run-through to see if any bonbon or sugar spoons appear in any of the designs. Will have to be later, oddly enough, am heading out shortly to take Mom to our local Morse Museum, famous for its Louis Comfort Tiffany collection - there is often live music on Friday evenings (will help make up for missing the lovely Christmas events this year). On checking the 1894 Blue Book, find that Hardt was correct in the souvenir spoons being offered only in coffee, orange, and tea sizes - but see no reason that other styles would not be available at the store. ~Cheryl IP: Logged |
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Richard Kurtzman Moderator Posts: 768 |
posted 02-21-2009 08:43 PM
See this thread for another Tiffany "souvenir" bon-bon spoon pertaining to NY. Is it possible that there was a series of these? Tiffany souvenir of New York. IP: Logged |
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dragonflywink Posts: 993 |
posted 02-22-2009 08:27 AM
As said, Tiffany produced a number of souvenir spoon designs from 1891 until at least 1928 (I can post a list of the designs later, if desired), Hardt located original drawings for 14 of the designs. While bonbons were not shown in the Blue Books, can't see any reason that they wouldn't have been made and sold in the store. ~Cheryl IP: Logged |
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