Writing Set
1900-11 (Made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Tiffany Studios produced stylish but affordable home and office wares. This writing set (part of a larger group) is decorated with the ‘grapevine’ pattern which was also used by American president Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) in his office. The design was produced by acid-etching into the metal and set against opalescent glass.
Tiffany produced a wide range of desk accessories, from which customers could make their choice. Scales for weighing letters, stamp boxes and paste pots are found alongside the more usual inkpot and letter clip.
Tiffany produced a wide range of desk accessories, from which customers could make their choice. Scales for weighing letters, stamp boxes and paste pots are found alongside the more usual inkpot and letter clip.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 19 parts.
|
| Brief description | Bronzed metal and Favrile glass writing set. Made by Tiffany Studios, New York, c. 1900-11. |
| Production type | Mass produced |
| Object history | Letter knife stolen from Bethnal Green Museum in 1972. The parts of the set which have bead-chain edging rather than the plain edges may be earlier than other parts of the set. It has been suggested that the bead chain edging, being more labour intensive and hence expensive, was discontinued after 1902. The Etched Metal and Glass patterns, including 'grapevine' do not appear on Tiffany price lists after 1929, suggesting that they were discontinued in the 1920s. |
| Summary | Tiffany Studios produced stylish but affordable home and office wares. This writing set (part of a larger group) is decorated with the ‘grapevine’ pattern which was also used by American president Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) in his office. The design was produced by acid-etching into the metal and set against opalescent glass. Tiffany produced a wide range of desk accessories, from which customers could make their choice. Scales for weighing letters, stamp boxes and paste pots are found alongside the more usual inkpot and letter clip. |
| Bibliographic reference | Kemeny, George and Miller, Donald Tiffany Desk Treasures: a collector's guide, New York, 2002 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | CIRC.394-1962 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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