American Art Nouveau Sterling Silver and Glass Part Desk Set
John Mason, New York, 1890
Comprising a pen tray and inkwell, the borders chased with flowers and foliage. Length of pen tray 9 inches; inkwell 5 inches, square, total approximately 7 ounces, weighable.

The story of John Mason is one of brilliant failure. Mason was only in his early twenties and a clerk at Tiffany & Co. when he inherited $100,000 from an uncle and struck out to open his own emporium of luxury goods just a dozen blocks north of the Tiffany & Co. store in Union Square. Mason was very ambitious and newspaper advertisements of the time stressed his recent links to Tiffany & Co., and the fact that he was hiring away other talented craftsmen from the firm. John Mason was initially known for the high quality silver, watches and jewelry that they offered and it seemed that Mason's plan to "out-Tiffany Tiffany" was on its way to reality, but the plan was an epic failure with the business closing after just two years in 1892. A string of lawsuits followed and Gorham bought out his remaining stock. Mason was finally discharged of his debts by the New York District Court in 1899 which totaled $210,257; he was noted as having no assets. The whole affair was recorded like a Victorian serial with the The Jewelers Circular and Horological Review regularly publishing the latest updates to the story. Mason apparently left the city and his dream of his own firm and died on Long Island having noted his occupation as artist.

C Estate of John Mason

Pen tray with script monogram "CWF"; good detail to decoration

Inkstand - tray with script monogram "CWF"; the glass with small chip losses to base; the silver cover with hinge broken

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