(61) Massive Tiffany & Co. Garden Tea and Serving Set. Includes cups, saucers, sugar bowls, cream pitchers, and plates, all with delicate floral patterns. Labeled "Tiffany & Co., Limoges France" on the bottoms. 

Condition: Chip on rim of 2 plates. Hairline on 2 plates. 

Largest: 10 1/2 in.  (Plate) 

#3564 . 

Tiffany & Co. (colloquially known as Tiffany’s) is an American luxury jewelry and specialty design house known particularly for its sterling silver and diamond jewelry along with countless other goods. The company was founded in 1837 by Charles Lewis Tiffany and became world-famous in the early 20th century under the artistic direction of his son Louis Comfort Tiffany. In its earliest days it adopted a more European style of business by accepting cash payment only instead of credit and refusing to allow haggling on prices. Their “Blue Book” mail order catalog was first introduced in 1845, and they supplied swords, flags, and surgical implements to the Union Army during the Civil War. In 1867 they became the first American company to be awarded for excellence in silverware at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. In 1879 they purchased one of the world’s largest diamonds, known afterwards as the Tiffany Diamond, which has only ever been worn by four people. A logo they created for a police medal of honor was adopted by the Yankees baseball team in 1909, and throughout the 20th Century countless celebrities from Andy Warhol to Lady Bird Johnson collaborated with them on unique pieces. Their blue gift boxes are almost as prized as the items they contain, and led to the opening of the Blue Box Cafe on the sixth floor of their flagship store in 2017. As of 2023, Tiffany operated over 300 stores globally, and is now part of the multinational holding company LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, still operating out of New York City as an independent subsidiary. 

The term Limoges Porcelain refers to hard-paste porcelain produced by factories in and around the city of Limoges, France, beginning in the late 18th Century, by any manufacturer. First established by Turgot in 1771 following the discovery of local supplies of kaolin and a material similar to petuntse in the economically distressed area at Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche, Limoges quickly became known for producing goods extremely similar to Chinese porcelain. This led to a manufactory at Limoges coming under the patronage of the comte d’Artois, brother of Louis XVI, and was later purchased by the King in 1784, although the French Revolution diminished production in all workshops. After the Revolution multiple private factories were established at Limoges, including Bernardaud, Haviland & Co. and Royal Limoges, and by about 1830 Limoges had replaced Paris as the main center for porcelain due to their proximity to the most ideal sources of clay, although the state-owned Sèvres porcelain near Paris remained dominant in the market for a few decades more. Limoges remains the primary hub for all porcelain production in France to this day.

Chip on rim of 2 plates. Hairline on 2 plates.