By Louis Comfort Tiffany
Located in New York, NY
Tiffany Studios’s Abalone pattern calendar frame features interlaced strapwork and grapes composed of flat abalone disks. Tiffany was deeply intrigued by the iridescent qualities found in nature, such as feathers, beetles, and abalone nacre, often incorporating abalone into his early interior design endeavors. Drawing inspiration from the Book of Kells, which played a significant role in igniting the Celtic revival, Tiffany incorporated interlaced strapwork into his designs. One of the most replicated folio pages from the book featured 158 intricate interlacings of white ribbon, with some details only fully revealed under magnification.
Item #: T-21885
Artist: Tiffany Studios New York
Country: United States
Circa: 1900
Dimensions: 5.75" height, 6.5" width.
Materials: Gilt Bronze, Abalone Shells
Signed: Tiffany Studios New York 1166
Literature: Alastair Duncan Tiffany Lamps and Metalware (new edition), pp. 514-515. For the desk set: pieces in the "Abalone" pattern are pictured in: Tiffany Desk Sets, by William R. Holland, Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2008, pp. 107-114. Various pieces are also picutred in: Tiffany Desk Treasures: A Collector’s Guide, by George A. Kemeny and Donald Miller, New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2002, p. 50; and in: Tiffany Lamps and Metalware: An illustrated reference to over 2000 models, by Alastair Duncan, Woodbridge: Suffolk: Antique Collectors’ Club, 1988, pp. 470-472
Macklowe Gallery Curator's Notes:
Tiffany’s abalone...
Category
Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Shell Picture Frames