Collecting Inspiration: Edward C. Moore at Tiffany & Co.

Medill Higgins Harvey, Ruth Bigelow Wriston Associate Curator of American Decorative Arts and Manager, The Henry R. Luce Center for the Study of American Art

Monika Bincsik, Diane and Arthur Abbey Associate Curator for Japanese Decorative Arts

Deniz Beyazit, Associate Curator, Islamic Art

The talk will draw on the recent publication, Collecting Inspiration: Edward C. Moore at Tiffany & Co. We will explore Moore’s pioneering collecting and the role it played in shaping his innovative work at Tiffany & Co. [The exhibition will be on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in the fall of 2024.]

Edward C. Moore led Tiffany & Co. to unparalleled originality and success during the second half of the nineteenth century. He was a visionary innovator who created silver that pushed traditional boundaries, refusing to be fettered by the limits of existing technology, aesthetic sensibilities, or artistic education. Under his leadership, Tiffany & Co. established itself as the preeminent designer and maker of silver on the world stage. Motivated by a desire to inspire creativity, not only in himself but also in his team of designers and silversmiths, Moore amassed a vast collection of works of art from ancient Greece and Rome, Europe, Asia, and the Islamic world—holdings that ranged from glass and ceramics to textiles, baskets, and metalwork. The three speakers will shed light on Moore’s collections of Asian and Islamic art and the virtuosic silver these works of art inspired.

Moore’s story speaks to the lively cross-cultural exchanges that defined nineteenth-century art and design in the United States.