Special Features

Any Tiffany silver is highly collectible. Their standard of quality through the ages speaks for itself. Their patterns have been of such lasting classic appeal that a remarkable number are currently in production after a 100 year run. We wanted to acquire some Tiffany place settings but we seek a little exclusivity and avoid patterns that you can still buy at Geary's Department Store. Persian is a good example. It originated in 1872 when exotic lands were all in vogue (Japanese, Egyptian, Persian) and would seem quite out of place today (or 1900 for that matter) with its ornate design. But it is a beautiful example of the silvermakers art. Turner does not list it as obsolete by 1929. Hagan lists it as not being in production today and an "S" pattern meaning that it is probably too scarce to be actively sought for a complete service.

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Dating

A big advantage of collecting Tiffany compared to other silver makers is the possibility of dating in many instances. Rainwater shows that prior to 1875 a small script "m" for Moore, was used along with the "Tiffany & Co.", a capital "M" from 1875 to 1891, a "T" from 1891-1902, a "C" from 1902 to 1907 and then back to the small script "m" up through 1965. A nice little pocket guide giving a complete key to Tiffany marks may be ordered free from SM Publishing from the home page. I would be grateful if someone could tell me how to distinguish the pre 1875 "m" from the post 1907 "m".

Shown below are a luncheon fork with the 'm' before the Tiffany & Co., which could be prior to 1875:

The second is a salad fork with a slightly different looking 'm' after the Tiffany & Co., which is less likely to be prior to 1875.

Would love to have some expert opinion on the dates of these.

Pieces Available

Persian seems to have been made long enough for just about any piece that you might want to be available. Shown below are our standard place setting pieces:

Key Pieces

Knife, salad fork, butter spreader. We were able to obtain most of the pieces including the knife from one set. The salad fork & flat butter took some hunting.

Comments

Being able to accurately date the luncheon fork would be great because the knife came out of the same set. Would love to know if Tiffany did make knives for this pattern back in 1872, or if the knives came later in the 1880's. The knife shown is a silver plated blunt blade with "Tiffany & Co. New York"