1896 Columbia Woman’s Bicycle Embellished by Tiffany

This bicycle is a lavishly decorated example of a common safety bicycle. It is covered with foliage, rosettes, and other organic Art Nouveau-inspired figures made of silver covered with a thin layer of gold. An expensive product for a limited market, it was introduced by Tiffany and Co. for the 1895 holiday season and was available at the height of the bicycle craze of the 1890s. Mary Noble “Mittie” Wiley of Montgomery, Alabama owned this bicycle. Her monogram MNW appears on the front tube in gold with diamonds and emeralds. Wiley was married to Ariosto Appling Wiley, a member of the Alabama House of Representatives and later a Representative in the United States Congress. Despite the couple’s prominent standing in Montgomery and Washington over many years, the circumstances surrounding the acquisition and use of this bicycle are unknown. In 1915, Mittie gave it to her son, Noble, intending that he give it to his daughter, Hulit, when she was old enough to appreciate it. But Noble Wiley became fascinated by the bicycle’s unusual materials, techniques, and history, and he donated it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1950.