Louis Comfort Tiffany, 1848-1922, American painter, glass maker, jeweler
Tiffany Studio, NY, 1902-1932
We may no longer have the taste for the artist’s bucolic, romantic, innocent images.
But no-one walks past Louis Comfort Tiffany’s tableaux in coloured glass without stopping and standing still for a while.
His lamps have been widely copied, and remain popular.
Many of his pioneering techniques to embellish glass – notably those which created dazzling iridescence – have been adopted by his successors.
His name lives on in a successful enterprise creating and selling luxury goods.
Details of a composition in leaded glass based on La Liseuse, a painting by Jules-Joseph Lefebvre (French, 1836-1911).
On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at Winterthur, Delaware in 2013
Vase, 1894, favrile glass. Philadelphia Art Museum
Necklace, moonstones, sapphire, platinum, c. 1910. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
‘Favrilefabrique’ Desk Lamp, c. 1915. gilt, bronze inset with pressed glass, gilt, bronze with abalone shell inlay.
On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at the Queen’s Museum, NY in 2020
1894, vase, Philadelphia Art Museum
Apple blossom library lamp, 1905. On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at Winterthur, Delaware in 2013
Necklace with opals, gold, and enamel, 1904. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Dragonfly Library Lamp, c. 1910, and its reflection; leaded glass with brass filigree overlay, blown and iridized glass mounted on metal, brass.
On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at the Queens Museum, NY, 2020
Lava Vase, 1915.
Tiffany wanted this to resemble molten rock and he did this by overlaying an amber body with cobalt blue enriched with gold iridescence. Philadelphia Art Museum
This technique led to such difficulties with the cooling of the glass that Tiffany restricted use of this technique to the period 1907-1915.
On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at Winterthur, Delaware in 2013
Vase, c. 1896, blown and iridized glass with applied and tooled decoration.
Threads of molten luster glass were applied to the surface and swirled with a tool. Heat treatment caused the silver to crystallize producing a mirror-like image. The vase was then lightly iridized using tin and iron chloride.
On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at the Queens Museum, NY, 2020
Necklace, gold, black opals, sapphires, demantoid garnets, and enamel, c. 1918-1923.
On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at the Queens Museum, NY, 2020
Views of a Turtleback Reading Lamp, c. 1902, bronze inset with iridized and pressed glass.
On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at the Queens Museum, NY, 2020
Damascene Vase, 1895
Tiffany adapted a method of embellishing metal to glass. The technique inlays gold or silver into metal. Here he inlaid white glass into glass of deep cobalt blue. Philadelphia Art Museum
Dragonfly Reading Lamp, c. 1910, leaded glass with brass filigree overlay, blown and iridized glass with applied and tooled decoration mounted on metal, brass.
On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at the Queens Museum, NY, 2020
Dragonfly reading lamp, 1895. On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at Winterthur, Delaware in 2013
On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at Winterthur, Delaware in 2013
Queen Anne’s lace hair ornament, silver, copper, opals, demntoid garnets, garnets, enamel, 1904. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Queen Anne’s lace hair ornament, gold, silver, platinum, black opals, demantoid garnets, rubies and enamel, 1904. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Garden Landscape, c. 1915, favrile glass mosaic.
This work may have been made as a study for the Dream Garden in the Curtis Institute (below).
Tiffany’s interest in mosaic dates to the 1880s when he saw Byzantine examples abroad. He began experimenting with iridescent glass and transparent tesserae backed with gold leaf.
This creation remained in the Tiffany showrooms until 1938 when its contents were auctioned. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Lotus pagoda library lamp, c. 1905. On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at Winterthur, Delaware in 2013
Chatelaine, 1888, silver and shagreen. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Russian library lamp, 1913. On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at Winterthur, Delaware in 2013
Brooch and cufflinks, c. 1880, multicoloured gold and platinum. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Vase, c. 1900; blown Favrille glass made from 1900 onwards. Philadelphia Art Museum
On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at Winterthur, Delaware in 2013
Vase, c. 1920, blown, iridized and engraved glass with applied and tool decoration. The threaded pattern is made of luster glass and its windows are of applied glass to look like opals.
On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at the Queens Museum, NY, 2020
On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at Winterthur, Delaware in 2013
Loggia from Laurelton Hall, Oyster Bay, NY now at the Metropolitan Museum, NY, favrile glass, limestone, ceramic material, granite, 1902-1905
Poinsettia hanging shade, c. 1905. On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at Winterthur, Delaware in 2013
Cypriote glass, 1899
Tiffany fused molten glass with crushed pieces of glass and potash causing bubbles and pits in the vessel. The result resembles glass found buried in Cyprus. Philadelphia Art Museum
Covered bowl with Boston Ivy, 1904-1909, porcelaneous earthenware. Tiffany Studios, NY
Bracelet, 1907-1915, gold, opals and semiprecious stones. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Wisteria library lamp, c. 1901. On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at Winterthur, Delaware in 2013
Vase, c. 1900, blown and iridized glass with applied and tooled decoration.
On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at the Queens Museum, NY, 2020
Grape vine and lemon tree with trellis, c. 1910. On exhibit from the Neustadt Collection, NY at Winterthur, Delaware in 2013
Autumn Landscape, 1923/24, leaded favrile glass. Metropolitan Museum, NY
Dream Garden, 1914-15.
Made with the studio of Louis Comfort Tiffany of 100,000 pieces of Tiffany glass: iridescent, translucent, opaque, transparent glass. The design was by Maxfield Parrish’s (American, 1870-1966).
It was installed in 1916 in the east lobby entrance of the Curtis Center, Philadelphia, where it remains. It belongs today to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia
Ces productions sont vraiment magnifiques, dans les arts décoratifs c’est vraiment ce que je préfère.
Je suis d’accord avec vous mais j’aime tellement, aussi, les tissus…. Sarah
The most exquisite representations of the natural world and our dream worlds in high voltage technicolor. Thank you once more for sharing fragments of paradise caught by an artist’s vision and craft. I had not realized how prolific Tiffany was.
Susannah, Thank you for your comment!
The work is exquisite. I imagine that the great houses of Rhode Island and Connecticut, perhaps all down both coasts and also in the South, are filled with Tiffany. And some large pieces, too.
But I am glad to have seen these and been able to post them.
Sarah