History and Description of Vine
The pattern was first identified by Charles and Mary Carpenter in Tiffany Silver (New York, 1978) and attributed to Edward C. Moore, Tiffany & Co.'s chief designer from 1868-91. Although no patent record has been found, the pattern was introduced in 1872 and utilizes multiple die-stamped motifs of diverse plant forms which encircle the handles in high relief against a stippled background. A distinctive feature of the pattern is the range of stem and terminal shapes which vary with the fruits and flowers motifs, as illustrated above. This variety of motifs and shapes integrated into a single pattern is termed paradoxically "matching" and derives from the Japanese art concept of non-correspondence. Thus, Vine differs from the more usual format of identical handle forms and decorative motifs within a flatware pattern.
Vine consists of thirteen different motifs of fruits, vegetables, flowers and a grain; daisy, gourd, grapevine, iris, morning glory, pansy, peapod, pomegranate, raspberry, squash, tomato vine, wild rose, and wheat. Vine is further enriched with functional-end forms unique to the pattern. Among the design features appearing only in Vine are the two-tined oyster fork in Squash motif (see above, center) and the lobulated bowl of the punch ladle in Tomato Vine motif.
Vine pattern was an immediate hit at the height of American taste for Japanese art and the Aesthetic Movement style -- the era of Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence. Later in the 1880s its popularity, hence its production, waned. By the early 20th-century, only a few pieces still could be acquired on special order from the firm. The pattern became obsolete in 1934 when the dies were destroyed.
Vine pattern flatware remains scarce and extremely expensive. Some of the motifs, such as peapod, daisy and particularly wheat are quite rare. Luncheon and dinner knives are nearly impossible to encounter since the handles were melted down when the blades became damaged through use. Only a few boxed sets, mostly incomplete, have been sold in the last thirty years. "Assembling a complete set, piece by piece, may take from a generation to a lifetime, but to the passionate collector the wait will have been worth it."
Based on Tiffany Silver Flatware 1845-1905; When Dining Was an Art by William P. Hood, Jr. with Roslyn Berlin and Edward Wawrynek (1999).