An American Silver Portrait Medallion of Charles Lewis Tiffany, Signed by Eugene J. Soligny of Tiffany & Co., New York, Circa 1870-76

Founder of Tiffany & Co., Charles Lewis Tiffany (1812-1902) initially opened a fancy goods shop of imported luxury items in 1837 with John Burnett Young, with Jabez L. Ellis joining the partnership in 1841. By 1847, Tiffany, Young, & Ellis were retailing silver holloware made by various New York silversmiths, including the John C. Moore firm, whose work they would exclusively retail by 1851. In 1854, a year after Ellis and Young retired, the firm officially became Tiffany & Co. As Edward C. Moore took over his father's silversmithing operation, he quickly became the leading creative voice behind silver produced for Tiffany. Under Moore's leadership, he brought in Tiffany's most talented silversmiths, designers, and chasers, including Eugene Soligny.

Eugene J. Soligny (1832–1901) was born in Paris, trained under French goldsmith Léonard Morel-Ladeuil before emigrating to the United States in 1856, and was working for Tiffany & Co. by 1859. He became the firm's preeminent chaser, with some of his most important pieces signed with his initials- a rare achievement for a Tiffany & Co. chaser to sign their work. The most famous work bearing his initials is the Bryant Vase completed in 1876 to honor William Cullen Bryant that entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection the following year. His medallion featuring the bust of Bryant in profile is similar to the present medallion, both an extension of the Grecian profile roundels that Tiffany was using in the 1860's.