Edward Chandler Moore was one of nineteenth-century America’s principal silver designers and is largely credited with the phenomenal success of Tiffany’s flatware. Between 1869 and 1889 he patented ten different designs, including this one—the Palm pattern—which was patented on July 4, 1871.

Related examples: The rest of this service belongs to the Governor’s Mansion, Austin, Texas.

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.