Internally Decorated "Aquamarine" Tiffany Favrile Glass Vase

Name: Internally Decorated "Aquamarine" Tiffany Favrile Glass Vase
Brand: Tiffany Studios
Price: 130000 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Tiffany Studios, circa 1912 Rare Internally Decorated "Aquamarine" exhibition quality Tiffany Favrile Glass Vase Engraved L.C. Tiffany-Favrile 5822 G, with firms paper label Height 12 in. (30.48 cm.), Diameter 5 in. (12.70 cm.) Provenance Christie's New York Important Tiffany Glass from The Minna Rosenblatt Gallery December 10,2003 Lot 454 LITERATURE: John Loring, Louis Comfort Tiffany at Tiffany & Co., New York, 2002,Martin Eidelberg, Tiffany Favrile Glass and the Quest for Beauty, New York, 2007 Catalogue note: AQUAMARINE One of the last major innovations in Tiffany Studios' glassmaking was the introduction of Aquamarine glass about 1912. The Tiffany craftsmen had been using paperweight techniques for a decade (works in which floral motives were worked in hot glass and then encased within layers of additional glass). Those made around 1900 generally had a shimmering golden background but, around 1910, this changed to a clear, transparent glass. Aquamarine glass introduced a subtle, green-tinged material that suggested a watery realm. Cased within the glass are yellow flowered plants like the one in this vase, floating in an aqueous world is this water lily. To further the illusion of watery depths, the glass itself is quite thick offering the viewer different perspectives such as one has when peering through actual water. Tiffany Studios' difficulty in making this glass was constantly emphasized. Not only was there the difficulty of properly annealing the many layers but equally challenging was the manipulation of the weighty glass ball while it was still hot and fluid. These technical difficulties caused much breakage, and the Aquamarine vases were costly as a result. Several examples were shown at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco. Martin Eidelberg Literature Elizabeth Lounsbery, "Aquamarine Glass," American Homes and Gardens, vol. 10, December 1913, p. 419 (for a period illustration of other aquamarine vases) Albert Christian Revi, American Art Nouveau Glass, Camden, NJ, 1968, p. 61, pl. 94 (for an illustration of an aquamarine glass doorstop with nearly identical decoration in the collection of the New York Historical Society) Robert Koch, Louis C. Tiffany's Art Glass, New York, 1977, p. 28 (for other examples in the collection of the Haworth Art Gallery, Accrington, Lancashire, England)Vivienne Couldrey, The Art of Louis Comfort Tiffany, London, 2001, p. 97 (for another example, Haworth Art Gallery)Martin Eidelberg and Nancy McClelland, Behind the Scenes of Tiffany Glassmaking: The Nash Notebooks, New York, 2001, p. 75 (for another example formerly in the collection of Leslie Hayden Nash)Robert Koch, Louis C. Tiffany, The Collected Works of Robert Koch, New York, 2001, p. 199 (for another example, Haworth Art Gallery)Alastair Duncan, Louis C. Tiffany: The Garden Museum Collection, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2004, pp. 264-265 (for other examples and a sketch by Leslie Hayden Nash of two aquamarine vases) Condition Report

Creator:

Tiffany Studios (Artist)

Dimensions:

Height: 12 in (30.48 cm)Diameter: 5 in (12.7 cm)

Materials and Techniques:

Glass

Period:

1910-1919

Date of Manufacture:

circa 1912

Condition:

Seller Location:

West Palm Beach, FL

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU3860115084731

View Invoice

Shop All Tiffany Studios

Tiffany Studios

The hand-crafted kerosene and early electric lighting fixtures created at Tiffany Studios now rank among the most coveted decorative objects in the world. Tiffany designs of any kind are emblematic of taste and craftsmanship, and Tiffany glass refers to far more than stained-glass windows and decorative glass objects. The iconic multimedia manufactory’s offerings include stained-glass floor lamps, chandeliers and enameled metal vases. The most recognizable and prized of its works are antique Tiffany Studios table lamps.

The name Tiffany generally prompts thoughts of two things: splendid gifts in robin’s-egg blue boxes and exquisite stained glass. In 1837, Charles Lewis Tiffany founded the former — Tiffany & Co., one of America’s most prominent purveyors of luxury goods — while his son, Louis Comfort Tiffany, is responsible for exemplars of the latter.

Louis was undoubtedly the most influential and accomplished American decorative artist in the decades that spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rather than join the family business, he studied painting with several teachers, notably the scenic painter Samuel Colman, while spending long periods touring Europe and North Africa. Though he painted his entire career, visits to continental churches sparked a passionate interest in stained glass. Tiffany began experimenting with the material and in 1875 opened a glass factory-cum-laboratory in Corona, Queens — the core of what eventually became Tiffany Studios.

In his glass designs, Tiffany embraced the emerging Art Nouveau movement and its sinuous, naturalistic forms and motifs. By 1902, along with glass, Tiffany was designing stained-glass lamps and chandeliers as well as enameled metal vases, boxes and bowls, and items such as desk sets and candlesticks. Today such pieces epitomize the rich aesthetics of their era.

The lion’s share of credit for Tiffany Studios table lamps and other fixtures has gone to Louis. However, it was actually Clara Driscoll (1861–1944), an Ohio native and head of the Women’s Glass Cutting Department for 17 years, who was the genius behind the Tiffany lamps that are most avidly sought by today’s collectors. A permanent gallery of Tiffany lamps at the New-York Historical Society celebrates the anonymous women behind the desirable fixtures.

Find antique Tiffany Studios lamps, decorative glass objects and other works on 1stDibs.