Tiffany and Co. Antique Sterling Silver Exotic Cocktail Shaker, NYC, NY, c. 1888

This spectacular cocktail shaker is the design work of Charles Osborne or Charles Grosjean, two of Tiffany's most important 19th-century designers. It features the most extraordinary acid-etched engraving of satyrs with female companions along with Pan playing his flutes.

One couple is depicted with a male figure playing the lyre along with a rabbit below and the other couple with the male holding the female around her waist while holding a glass. In both depictions of the couples, the female figure is raising a glass.

The dense foliage background includes clusters of grapes with flowing grasses. The removable cover incorporates this design along with reveling masks flanked with instruments. Incorporated into the design underneath is a wonderful 'SCL' monogram. A lovely 'M' initial is engraved twice on the band of the cover. The built-in strainer is unusual. When the top neck is down, it seals the container in order to shake its contents. When the neck is raised, it allows the liquid to pour.

Scenes of reveling such as these represented the 'convivial Bacchus' and were symbols of welcome.  The somewhat risqué decoration was more typical in the male-dominated sphere, as were the cocktails this was used to make about 1890.

This rare shaker is marked 'TIFFANY & CO/ 9727 M 2556/ STERLING/ 1 PINT'. It measures 7.5 inches tall, weighs 15.30 troy ounces and is in excellent antique condition.