Necklace

The multi-colored gold birds and flowers applied to the openwork plaques on this necklace reflect the fascination with Japanese art that captured the attention of European and American designers following the reopening of Japan to trade in 1859. Tiffany & Co. manufactured a range of jewelry and accessories in the Japanese taste beginning in the mid-1870s, which often employ varicolored metals, as here. A closely related necklace is in the collection of the British Museum in London. Although unmarked, the attribution to Tiffany & Co. for both examples is widely accepted based on a marked piece that uses similar techniques and motifs. The motifs are also similar to drawings made by Tiffany & Co.’s then chief designer Edward C. Moore in the 1870s