  About the Artwork
  
  
  The tall cylindrical coffeepot with its free-floating dragonflies represents the Japanese influence
on the avant-garde art of the 1870s. Edward C. Moore, Tiffany’s chief designer, undoubtedly fell under this influence. In fabricating the piece, he employed the Japanese technique mokume, in which brass or silver is mixed in copper to achieve a swirled effect. The mokume waves achieve a cloudlike quality, interspersed among the applied dragonflies.
  
  
  Title
  Coffeepot
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1879
  
  Artist
  Tiffany and Company
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  established 1837
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  American
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
  ----------
  
  
  Medium
  Silver, copper, brass, ivory, possibly with gold and niello
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 9 1/4 × 6 1/8 inches (23.5 × 15.6 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Silver
  
  
  Department
  American Art before 1950
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase with funds from Mr. and Mrs. Charles Theron Van Dusen and Beatrice W. Rogers Fund
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  1985.11
  
  
  Copyright
  Copyright Not Evaluated
