Salt or Pepper Shaker, One of Pair
Decorative Arts and Design
On View: Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
These salt and pepper shakers were inspired by small figurines thought to represent native South American Aztec gods and goddesses, such as the one illustrated here. The newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst purchased twelve sets of the shakers (one pair for each place setting) to add to an elaborate silver dinner service by Tiffany & Company that featured North American Indian figures on the handles of the silverware. Hearst also owned the large Tiffany & Company silver tray in this gallery, which replicates the famous ancient Aztec calendar stone.
MEDIUM
Silver, turquoise
DATES
ca. 1907
DIMENSIONS
2 1/4 x 1 3/8 x 1 1/4 in. (5.7 x 3.5 x 3.2 cm)
(show scale)
MARKINGS
On bottom: [partially effaced] "TIFFANY & Co / MAKERS 0655 / STERLING SILVER / 925-1000 / m"
SIGNATURE
no signature
INSCRIPTIONS
no inscriptions
ACCESSION NUMBER
88.22.2a-b
CREDIT LINE
H. Randolph Lever Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Shaker (a) and lid (b), silver, in form of Aztec deity, crouching and with headdress. "Crown" unscrews by threaded mechanism. Top of crown pierced with many holes. Below face is pendant set with turquoise stone; on rear of headdress is chain of turquoise stones.
CONDITION: Some oxidation, especially on bottom; two turquoise stones missing from back.
06 13 1989, two missing stones purchased from Greenwood Gems. 10 West 49th St. and remounted by Kirk's Setting Co., 2 West 47 St. NYC.
CAPTION
Tiffany & Company (American, founded 1853). Salt or Pepper Shaker, One of Pair, ca. 1907. Silver, turquoise, 2 1/4 x 1 3/8 x 1 1/4 in. (5.7 x 3.5 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 88.22.2a-b. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 88.22.2a-b_bw.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 88.22.2a-b_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.
