Tiffany & Company (American, founded 1853). <em>Tray or Waiter</em>, ca. 1893. Silver, agate, 2 x 21 x 21 x 21 in. (5.1 x 53.3 x 53.3 x 53.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Modernism Benefit Fund, 87.182. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 87.182_bw.jpg)

Tiffany & Company (American, founded 1853). Tray or Waiter, ca. 1893. Silver, agate, 2 x 21 x 21 x 21 in. (5.1 x 53.3 x 53.3 x 53.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Modernism Benefit Fund, 87.182. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 87.182_bw.jpg)

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What was this tray made for?

This sterling silver tray was made to be displayed by Tiffany & Co. at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. International fairs were an opportunity for manufacturers to showcase the talent of their craftsmen and designers. Tiffany & Co. drew design inspiration from a range of different cultural sources, including Japan, Egypt, Greece, the Celts, and Aztecs. This tray is based on the Aztec calendar stone that symbolizes the creation of the Aztec universe. Each foot that the tray rests upon is a representation of an Aztec deity.

I would like to know more about this object please.

This tray is made of sterling silver and is by Tiffany & Company. The tray depicts Aztec imagery using a stylized version of the Aztec Calendar. this calendar symbolizes the creation of the Aztec universe. Each foot of the tray is also a representation of an Aztec Deity. It was likely exhibited at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. It was produced during a time when there was a growing interest in Native American art among collectors and tourists.

Who would be using this tray? Do we know where this tray came from?

Good question. It was initially made as an exhibition showpiece, to demonstrate the company’s technical abilities. After the World’s Fair, it was eventually acquired by William Randolph Hearst. It entered the Brooklyn Museum's collection by way of the Modernism Benefit Fund.

Great info. Thanks!

Tray or Waiter

Decorative Arts

On View: American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, The United States on the World Stage, 1865–1930

Exhibited in Tiffany’s display at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, this tray is evidence of the nineteenth-century search for America’s roots in its pre-European cultures. The object is based on the famous “sun calendar” of the Aztecs. The calendar had been excavated in Mexico City about a hundred years before and had become an icon of the pre-Columbian past.

MAKER Tiffany & Company, American, founded 1853

MEDIUM Silver, agate

Place Manufactured: New York, New York, United States

DATES ca. 1893

DIMENSIONS 2 x 21 x 21 x 21 in. (5.1 x 53.3 x 53.3 x 53.3 cm) (show scale)

MARKINGS Impressed on back: "TIFFANY & Co / 11361 [globe over T under TIFFANY & Co -- mark for 1893 fair] 4767 / STERLING SILVER / 925-1000"

SIGNATURE no signature

INSCRIPTIONS no inscriptions

COLLECTIONS Decorative Arts

ACCESSION NUMBER 87.182

CREDIT LINE Modernism Benefit Fund

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Circular tray or waiter (plateau sur table), raised on 10 stepped, ornamented feet, each representing stylized Aztec deity and each crowned by scalloped, semi-circular, brown and black agate disk headdress that rises above gallery. Between each foot is sloping pierced band with stylized, engraved ornament. Between the headdresses is gallery of low, pierced arcade of repeating arches, each centered with small, elaborate cartouche. Center of tray slopes in concave curve away from gallery; surface is ornamented with acid-etched replica of the Aztec sun calendar. CONDITION: Normal wear. One agate headdress (just left of lower center) replaced with enameled copper.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, The United States on the World Stage, 1865–1930

CAPTION Tiffany & Company (American, founded 1853). Tray or Waiter, ca. 1893. Silver, agate, 2 x 21 x 21 x 21 in. (5.1 x 53.3 x 53.3 x 53.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Modernism Benefit Fund, 87.182. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 87.182_bw.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 87.182_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

RECORD COMPLETENESS

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

What was this tray made for?

I would like to know more about this object please.

Who would be using this tray? Do we know where this tray came from?

Great info. Thanks!