Coffee Service

Paulding Farnham became Tiffany and Company’s head designer in the late 1890s following the death of longtime head designer—and Farnham’s mentor—Edward C. Moore in 1891. Farnham’s background as a jewelry designer is evident in this Islamic-style coffee service with purple enamel, gold strapwork, silver-gilt (gold-plated sterling silver), and amethysts. The intimate scale of the set suggests that it was meant to be used for after-dinner coffee in small portions. This service was inspired by European and Russian jewelry and Near Eastern aesthetic, but Farnham may also have been inspired by Russian enamels imported by Tiffany in the 1890s as well as the works created by Russian artist Peter Carl Fabergé for the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris.