Tiffany & Co.
A Modern Silver Strawberry Basket Basket, c. 1980
Height: 3.5 in. (8.89 cm.)
Width: 5.75 in. (14.61 cm.) Weight: 27 oz. 7 dwt.
Width: 5.75 in. (14.61 cm.) Weight: 27 oz. 7 dwt.
V8021
$ 9,500.00
Further images
Formed as a strawberry basket with faux wood sides and wire handle, marked Tiffany & Co. / Sterling / Portugal. This piece was designed by Van Day Truex, Tiffany's design...
Formed as a strawberry basket with faux wood sides and wire handle, marked Tiffany & Co. / Sterling / Portugal.
This piece was designed by Van Day Truex, Tiffany's design director from 1956 to 1979. John Loring illustrates an identical basket in silver-gilt in "Tiffany's 20th Century: A portrait of American Style" pp. 160-1, saying "Louis Comfort Tiffany had based some of his jewelry designs on weeds such as dandelions and Queen Anne's lace; Van Day Truex expanded on this tradition by basing Tiffany & Co. objects on common articles of everyday use. His 'Strawberry Box" was made of vermeiled sterling silver, yet it was otherwise an exact replica of throwaway wooden boxes used for selling berries in grocery stores. This Midas-like transformation also had Dadaist and Surrealist aspects, recalling Marcel Duchamp's "ready-mades," such as the snow shovel he displayed as a work or art."
This piece was designed by Van Day Truex, Tiffany's design director from 1956 to 1979. John Loring illustrates an identical basket in silver-gilt in "Tiffany's 20th Century: A portrait of American Style" pp. 160-1, saying "Louis Comfort Tiffany had based some of his jewelry designs on weeds such as dandelions and Queen Anne's lace; Van Day Truex expanded on this tradition by basing Tiffany & Co. objects on common articles of everyday use. His 'Strawberry Box" was made of vermeiled sterling silver, yet it was otherwise an exact replica of throwaway wooden boxes used for selling berries in grocery stores. This Midas-like transformation also had Dadaist and Surrealist aspects, recalling Marcel Duchamp's "ready-mades," such as the snow shovel he displayed as a work or art."