Tiffany & Co. Owl mustard pot... I got it! I got it!

[rynegold]

This is just show and tell I guess, but I'm elated that finally, I got the Tiffany & Co. "Owl" mustard pot that I've been after for over a year now. I thought I'd show some pics of it as you folks on this forum are unabashedly silver nuts just like me; we are few and far between no?
A customer brought it in and showed it to me a long time ago and I made an offer; but it took a over a year, a fist full of cash and a small pair of 14-karat and diamond hoop earrings to get it in hand. In my 39 years of the jewelry business, I've come across (and kept!) a lot of really cool silver, but this, although not the most valuable, is my favorite piece!
I've even found it in my copy of "Tiffany Table Settings" copyright 1960. There's a salt and pepper shaker that go with it and of course I'm on the hunt for those. Marked both "STERLING" and "ENGLAND" it was obviously made for export (presumably to the American market). The little guy weighs in at a hefty 413 grams w/o the liner. The letter date for the owl is 1961 and the spoon is 1962.























A few more pix on this slideshow:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsktKK5er

compliments and regards,

mitch

[jacksonsvl19l]

Awesome piece. Congrats. Love the story too. Good hunting.

[dognose]

Hi Mitch,

Thanks for sharing. It Always great to see pieces like this.

Trev.

[asheland]

Awesome piece! Congrats on getting it! :)

[rynegold]

So I have to ask, since this piece is marked T & Co. who actually made it? Under British law, this piece like any other is duly marked with the aforementioned maker's mark, as well as the required (by law) metal/purity, city and year touch marks.
So do we assume (or does anyone actually know) Tiffany had an actual shop of their own in London? Because that's what that mark implies.
I find that hard to believe as surely you'd see more London Tiffany pieces out there in the hands of collectors if that was true and, maybe there are and I just don't know it.
Is it possible another shop made it, and Tiffany just went through the legal and financial motions of obtaining a hallmark they could use on a "commissioned" piece like this one?

Regards, mitch

[AG2012]

Tiffany have contracted out the manufacture of silver items in England.The mark on the owl is a bit different,though (its shape).

[rynegold]

Greetings AG... what else did they have made in London?, what other items/touchmarks have you come across?

[agphile]

Tiffany have had a London branch since 1868, with a gap around the time of WW2. Their first mark entered at Goldsmiths Hall in 1892 was A.W.F. - the initials of their London manager. I think the T&Co mark probably replaced this somewhere around the 1930s. Tiffany items made and marked in England for sale in their London shop will embrace most of the things you might expect them to sell. Of course, they will also have imported some items from the USA and have exported some of their UK made items to the USA. One of the London firms that manufactured for Tiffany (and for many other well known names) in the second half of the 20th century was C J Vander.






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[agphile]

I should have added that I can't say whether or not Vander was actually the firm that made your owl.

[rynegold]

agphile... thanks so much! I didn't know any of that history! Very good to know and add to my notes on my little collection.

regards and thanks!
mitch