A Tiffany & Co., Inc. Belle Epoque Silver Bonbon Server, 1892-1902, is for sale. Bidding begins around October 17th, and the live auction is November 7, 2019 conducted by Heritage Auctions. Preview the Tiffany Silver Bonbon Server for sale, and other items included in November 7th Fine Silver & Decorative Arts Signature Auction in Dallas, TX.
The name Tiffany & Co. is synonymous with elegance and quality. This sumptuous silver bonbon server is a supreme example of sophistication in specialty silverware that was designed during the Gilded Age. Large and weighty, not made in great quantity, and the ultimate in Tiffany’s non-standard flatware patterns, it would have been enjoyed by only the wealthiest of households.
We might say that this is “form that eschews function,” and one that highlights novelty and style above everything else. It demonstrates the paradox of a petite dessert “in need” of a heavy and ostentatious server. Designed for guests to pass around the dinner table by hand, the existence of a specific server for these light desserts makes it almost superfluous beyond its extravagant design. Nonetheless, to own and use a sterling silver Tiffany bonbon server during the Gilded Age had a similar implication of wealth as it would today.
As today, Tiffany & Co. was an extremely fashionable brand that connoted luxury, style, and refinement. It was an appealing brand for the nouveau riche to announce their entry to high society, while its elegant design made it equally appealing to traditional “old money” families. The increasing variety of new and exotic dishes resulting from technological advances in transportation and refrigeration gave rise to more specialized flatware. Tiffany & Co. responded with some of the most exceptional silver flatware services ever created.
About the Tiffany Silver Bonbon Server
This Tiffany & Co. silver bonbon server, cast in high relief on the terminal with an allegorical representation of ‘Morning’ as a pair of embracing putti, one carrying a torch announcing the dawn of a new day, both their heads framed by a rococo cartouche, and the bowl with openwork flowers and scrolls, is an exquisite example of a bygone era of extravagance and elegance in entertaining.
A similar example is illustrated in Tiffany Silver Flatware 1845-1905 by William Hood, Jr., p. 282, Fig. 423.
Preview the Tiffany Silver Bonbon Server for sale, and other items included in November 7th Fine Silver & Decorative Arts Signature Auction in Dallas, TX.