$10,665
William Gale for Tiffany & Co. Five Piece Sterling Presentation Tea and Coffee Service , c. 1863, comprising baluster form coffeepot, teapot, kettle on stand with burner, covered sugar, and lidded milk jug, all chased and embossed all over with dense ivy vines on stippled ground, with crabstock handles, beaded rims, each with two roundel reserves to sides of body, one engraved with presentation inscription dated 1863, coffeepot ht. 12 3/8 in., approx. 175 troy oz. Note: Inscription reads "Presented to Brig. Gen. Egbert L. Viele, Military Governor of Norfolk, Virginia, by the loyal citizens as a mark of their respect and esteem, July 4th 1863." Egbert Ludovicus Viele (1825-1902), a native New Yorker, graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point on July 1, 1847. He served in the Second United States Infantry during the Mexican-American War. In 1853 he became a civil and military engineer, and was appointed State Engineer of New Jersey in 1855. He undertook a topographical survey of the state, and also surveyed the area which later became Central Park. After the state chose a design for Central Park from Olmsted & Vaux, Viele was appointed engineer-in-chief in 1856 to oversee its build out. At the time of the Civil War, Viele served in the Engineer Corps of the Seventh New York Regiment in 1860, and in the United States Volunteers in 1861. He went on to command troops on the Savannah River during the siege of Fort Pulaski and was soon after appointed Milita Read more…
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2009-10-03
