04-10-201004-10-2010
Skinner Auctions
Skinner AuctionsBoston MA
2498Boston
April 10, 2010 10:00 AMCalender
786

Fine Tiffany & Co. Sterling Fruit Bowl with Bacchante Handles

Sell one like this
$14,220$12,000
Auction: European Furniture & Decorative Arts - 2498Location: BostonDate / Time: April 10, 2010 10:00AM

Description:

Fine Tiffany & Co. Sterling Fruit Bowl with Bacchante Handles, 1875-91, attributed to Eugene J. Soligny, round, the rim heavily cast with fruiting grapevines, and with high relief handles formed as the busts of a male and female Bacchic jester, body with ribbon-wrapped reeded girdle, the slightly domed foot with running acanthus band at rim, monogrammed, ht. to 6 1/4, wd. to 12 3/4 in., approx. 54 troy oz.

Note: This bowl, with its highly detailed, sculptural bacchante handles, bears a striking resemblance to punch bowls from the three garnitures commissioned by the U.S. government c. 1873 for presentation to the three arbitrators of the Alabama reparations claim case. The design of these suites has been attributed to one of Tiffany's most celebrated designers and chasers, Eugene J. Soligny (1832-1901). One of the punch bowls is in the collection of The Art Institute of Chicago, and another was sold at Sotheby's on January 18, 2008. The bacchic heads on those bowls, and on this bowl, are unmistakably similar. Soligny was also involved in the design of some of Tiffany & Co.'s most reknowned showpieces, including the Comanche Trophy of 1873, and the Bryant Vase of 1875/76.

Provenance: Monogrammed EBO for Ella Belzer Ottmann, daughter of Emily Belzer and Jacob Ottmann. This bowl was likely a present on the occasion of her marriage to Bernard Setzer on June 24, 1896 in New York City. Jacob Ottmann was a prominent German-American businessman who founded the J. Ottmann Lithographic Company, which was housed in New York City's famed Puck Building at 295 Lafayette Street. The building, named after the satirical "Puck Magazine" published at the Ottmann company between 1887-1916, was once the largest lithography/publishing building in the world.
Estimate $15,000-20,000

good, with very light and minor surface scratching, including some to the interior, possibly from a frog.
marked Tiffany & Co,
7698 Makers 5158
sterling silver
925-1000
T
with some scratched numbers around mark.

Keywords

Tiffany, Tiffany & Co., Eugene J. Soligny, Fine Tiffany & Co., U.S. government, Alabama, The Art Institute of Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Jacob Ottmann, Ella Belzer Ottmann, Emily Belzer, New York City, Bernard Setzer, businessman, J. Ottmann Lithographic Company, Puck Building, founder, prominent German- businessman, lithography