SoCalSteve
05-01-2008, 06:20 PM
Hi all,
This was forwarded to me by a friend who is in charge of the 20th Century Furniture and Decoractive Arts Department at Bonhams-Butterfields.
Pretty interesting, I'd say.
Today, we take the bicycle for granted as a vehicle for transportation or pleasure. But, it has only been 120 years since the
bicycle as we know it came into being. The basic shape and configuration of the chain-driven bicycle was developed around 1885 and,
in 1888, the pneumatic tire was introduced. This new vehicle had a considerable impact on society, reducing the dependence on horse
drawn carriages as well as enabling workers to commute from the suburbs, thus lessening crowding in inner-city tenements. The 1890s
was the golden age for bicycles and it is often associated with women’s emancipation, the suffragists viewing it as a “freedom machine.”
Susan B. Anthony, quoted in the New York World in 1892, stated, “Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more
to emancipate women than anything else in the world.” The bicycle craze also changed fashion in the late 1890s, introducing the then
shocking bloomers.
Although most bicycles in the 1890s were made out of tubular steel, Tiffany & Co. introduced a line fashioned out of sterling
silver (called “solid” silver at the time), listing it among their products in their annual Blue Book in 1897. This new line addressed a desire
for the well-to-do to own bicycles that were different from standard models. Charles Carpenter in Tiffany Silver quoted a newspaper
article in a Tiffany scrapbook, dated December 9, 1895, “Society can not refrain from biking, but it has been recognized as a grievance
that it is practically impossible to buy a bicycle costing over $125. This gives the sport an air of cheapness…At last Tiffany has come to
the rescue. As a starter, he has designed a bicycle, decorated in silver and ivory. The handlebars are of carved ivory, partly encased in
chased silver. All joints of the frame are encased in solid silver, etched and chased in repoussé style.” The reviewer then commented,
“Mounted on a wheel of this description, there is every reason to believe that a rider can secure general recognition of the public that he
has money to burn, whatever his deficiencies in gray matter.”
It is not known how many silver bicycles Tiffany & Co. produced in the late 1890s; however, since they were listed in their
annual selling catalogue, they must have had made enough to supply the demand at the upper income level. The actress and singer of
the 1890s, Lillian Russell, owned such a conveyance, designed in much the same manner as this silver and enamel bicycle with silver
acanthus leaf motifs applied onto the frame and ivory handlebars engraved with spirals, reminiscent of the ornamentation Charles
Osborne designed for Tiffany’s silver in the 1880s. This bicycle is a testament to the late nineteenth century, when to own something
unique was a mark of status. One would have been noticed on such a vehicle.
http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=USA&screen=lotdetailsNoFlash&iSaleItemNo=3807627&iSaleNo=16090&iSaleSectionNo=1
Enjoy!
Steve
This was forwarded to me by a friend who is in charge of the 20th Century Furniture and Decoractive Arts Department at Bonhams-Butterfields.
Pretty interesting, I'd say.
Today, we take the bicycle for granted as a vehicle for transportation or pleasure. But, it has only been 120 years since the
bicycle as we know it came into being. The basic shape and configuration of the chain-driven bicycle was developed around 1885 and,
in 1888, the pneumatic tire was introduced. This new vehicle had a considerable impact on society, reducing the dependence on horse
drawn carriages as well as enabling workers to commute from the suburbs, thus lessening crowding in inner-city tenements. The 1890s
was the golden age for bicycles and it is often associated with women’s emancipation, the suffragists viewing it as a “freedom machine.”
Susan B. Anthony, quoted in the New York World in 1892, stated, “Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more
to emancipate women than anything else in the world.” The bicycle craze also changed fashion in the late 1890s, introducing the then
shocking bloomers.
Although most bicycles in the 1890s were made out of tubular steel, Tiffany & Co. introduced a line fashioned out of sterling
silver (called “solid” silver at the time), listing it among their products in their annual Blue Book in 1897. This new line addressed a desire
for the well-to-do to own bicycles that were different from standard models. Charles Carpenter in Tiffany Silver quoted a newspaper
article in a Tiffany scrapbook, dated December 9, 1895, “Society can not refrain from biking, but it has been recognized as a grievance
that it is practically impossible to buy a bicycle costing over $125. This gives the sport an air of cheapness…At last Tiffany has come to
the rescue. As a starter, he has designed a bicycle, decorated in silver and ivory. The handlebars are of carved ivory, partly encased in
chased silver. All joints of the frame are encased in solid silver, etched and chased in repoussé style.” The reviewer then commented,
“Mounted on a wheel of this description, there is every reason to believe that a rider can secure general recognition of the public that he
has money to burn, whatever his deficiencies in gray matter.”
It is not known how many silver bicycles Tiffany & Co. produced in the late 1890s; however, since they were listed in their
annual selling catalogue, they must have had made enough to supply the demand at the upper income level. The actress and singer of
the 1890s, Lillian Russell, owned such a conveyance, designed in much the same manner as this silver and enamel bicycle with silver
acanthus leaf motifs applied onto the frame and ivory handlebars engraved with spirals, reminiscent of the ornamentation Charles
Osborne designed for Tiffany’s silver in the 1880s. This bicycle is a testament to the late nineteenth century, when to own something
unique was a mark of status. One would have been noticed on such a vehicle.
http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=USA&screen=lotdetailsNoFlash&iSaleItemNo=3807627&iSaleNo=16090&iSaleSectionNo=1
Enjoy!
Steve