John Chandler Moore (about 1803 – September 28, 1874) was an American

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary great ...

, active in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. While initially working for Marquand and Co., he worked exclusively for Tiffany & Co. after 1851. His son, Edward Chandler Moore, was in charge of designing and manufacturing silverware at Tiffany. Moore worked from circa 1827 to 1831 as a silversmith in New York City, partnered from 1832 to 1836 with Garrett Eoff as Eoff & Moore, again worked solo from 1837 to 1847, then partnered with his son, Edward Chandler Moore, from circa 1848 to 1855 as J. C. Moore & Son. He sold pieces in the

Rococo Revival The Rococo Revival style emerged in Second Empire France and then was adapted in England. Revival of the rococo style was seen all throughout Europe during the 19th century within a variety of artistic modes and expression including decorative ...

style, then called the French style, through retailer Ball, Tompkins, and Black (Ball, Black & Co.) In 1851

Tiffany and Co. Tiffany & Co. (colloquially known as Tiffany's) is a high-end luxury jewelry and specialty retailer, headquartered on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It sells jewelry, sterling silver, porcelain, crystal, stationery, fragrances, water bottles, wat ...

contracted with the firm to produce

holloware Holloware (hollowware, or hollow-ware ) is metal tableware such as sugar bowls, creamers, coffee pots, teapots, soup tureens, hot food covers, water jugs, platters, butter pat plates, and other items that accompany dishware on a table. It does ...

exclusively for Tiffany's, in

sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. ''Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, is r ...

(925 parts per 1,000 parts silver) rather than the then-typical American

coin silver The fineness of a precious metal object (coin, bar, jewelry, etc.) represents the weight of ''fine metal'' therein, in proportion to the total weight which includes alloying base metals and any impurities. Alloy metals are added to increase hardn ...

, and in 1868 the firm was acquired by Tiffany. Moore was the second American silversmith (after Michael Gibney) to patent silver flatware designs, in 1847 receiving patent numbers 114 (Louis XIV) and 124 (pattern name unknown). One of his notable works was the Collins tea service, made of solid gold, that was displayed at the 1851

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary The Crystal Palace, structure in which it was held), was an International Exhib ...

and 1853

Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations The Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations was a World's Fair held in 1853 in what is now Bryant Park in New York City, in the wake of the highly successful 1851 Great Exhibition in London. It aimed to showcase the new industrial achievements ...

References

"John Chandler Moore"
American Silversmiths.
"John C. Moore's Flatware"
Spencer Marks Ltd.
"A Legacy of Sterling Silver"
Tiffany & Co. * ''Silver in America, 1840–1940: a century of splendor'', Charles Lane Venable, Dallas Museum of Art, 1995, page 320. * ''Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturers'', Dorothy T. Rainwater, Judy Redfield, Schiffer Pub., 1998, pages 222–223. * ''American Silversmiths and Their Marks IV'', Stephen Guernsey Cook Ensko, D.R. Godine, 1989, page 143. * ''Art and the Empire City: New York, 1825–1861'', Kevin J. Avery et al., Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000, page 372.
"John Chandler Moore"
Long Island Surnames.
"John Chandler Moore"
Heritage Auctions. {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, John Chandler American silversmiths 1803 births 1874 deaths