Tiffany Sterling Silver Inkwell

Description

This is a diminutive, heavy-gauge sterling silver inkwell designed in an ornate Rococo Revival / Chinoiserie style.

• The Body: The cylindrical base features deeply chased and repoussé work depicting playful cherubs (or cupids) amidst a lush landscape of cascading floral swags, garlands, and blooming roses.
• The Birds: Interspersed between the floral swags and cherubs are finely detailed birds in mid-flight.
• The Lid & Hinge: The domed, hinged lid is embossed with an arrangement of musical instruments, including a pan flute (panpipes), a horn, and cymbals, framed by delicate foliage. The sturdy, flush-set rectangular hinge mechanism is integrated into the back.
• Interior: It houses a removable clear glass liner.

This is an authentic piece of Tiffany & Co. holloware. The crisp, uniform struck marks shown on the base are textbook examples of authentic Tiffany stamping. The level of hand-chased artistry, depth of the repoussé, and precise tool work match the exact standards of the firm’s elite late-19th-century production.

When Was It Made?

This piece was manufactured circa 1892–1893.

Decoding the Maker’s Marks

Reading the base stamp from top to bottom explains its exact origins:

• TIFFANY & CO.: The standard retail/manufacturing mark for the company.
• 11396: This is the Pattern Number. Tiffany’s holloware pattern records show that design number 11396 was first introduced in 1892.
• MAKERS: Signifies that this piece was manufactured directly in-house at Tiffany’s own dedicated silver workshop in New York, rather than being outsourced to an independent silversmith.
• 9237: This is the Order Number (or work-master inventory number), used internally by the workshop to track the specific batch production run.
• STERLING: Confirms the purity of the metal meets the standard of 925 parts pure silver out of 1000.
• 925-1000: Explicitly restates the exact decimal silver purity standard introduced to American silver making by Tiffany.
• T: This is the Date Letter. Tiffany utilized a system of single letters to denote the artistic director or president of the company. The capital letter “T” stands for Charles L. Tiffany, who served as president from 1891 to 1902.

Because pattern 11396 was designed in 1892, and it bears the “T” date letter, we can pinpoint its production to the beginning of that window—making it an exceptional piece from the early 1890s. At a compact 2 by 2 inches, it was likely intended as an elegant personal desk accessory or a traveling inkwell.