Tiffany & Co.’s Silver Punch Bowl along with a Ladle

Tiffany’s floriated punch bowl combines ornament from around the world, demonstrating the 19th-century penchant for assimilating historical motifs into modern design. The neck of this Tiffany punch bowl is elaborately decorated with a rinceau with rocaille foliage. Rocaille decoration was heavily loaded with decorations modeled on seashells, cascades of leaves and flowers, palm leaves, and other natural elements. The acanthus plant, native to Italy, was widely used in vessels and capitals while Rinceau were interlocking circular branches typically found in Roman friezes. Each rinceau is composed of a Chinese peony scroll, Briar Roses, dogwood, and Chinese roses. The body of the punch bowl is decorated with gadrooning, modeled after Classical Roman glass. A large group of similarly gadrooned Roman bowls was gifted to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Edward C. Moore, Chief silver designer at Tiffany & Co, in 1891. The feet of the punch bowl is formed of acanthus and lion’s paws. Greek tripod tables (used for serving wine) had lion paw foot designs based on Ancient Egyptian prototypes. The hemisphere of the ladle has an ogival shape, allowing for the pouring of punch from either direction. The handle of the ladle is decorated with madonna lilies, forget-me-nots, Chinese roses, and sunflowers.