Tiffany Studios 54 Decorated Tiles and Assorted Jewels

Tiffany Studios
54 Decorated Tiles and Assorted Jewels

circa 1885
Favrile glass
20 tiles molded PAT. FEB. 8TH 1881/L.C.T. & Co.
3 tiles molded PAT. APPL'D FOR
largest tile: 7¼ in. (18.4 cm) diameter

Condition Report:
Overall in very good condition. The glass presents with occasional minor air bubbles, particulate inclusions and surface irregularities which are inherent in the making and not visually distracting. The glass surfaces throughout with scattered, very fine and light surface scratches consistent with age and gentle handling. The tiles with scattered minor chips and small losses concentrated to the edges and corners, consistent with age and handling and not visually distracting. An excellent ensemble of richly saturated and multicolored tiles.

Catalogue Note:
Enticing Tiles: Tiffany's Glass Beginnings

Small square glass tiles were among the earliest glass objects that can be credited to Louis Tiffany. He had designed a few leaded glass windows, most notably for St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (Islip, New York) and the Seventh Regiment Armory (New York City) in the spring of 1880. Those, however, were composed of sheet glass. Tiles such as the ones offered here and made of pressed glass probably appeared less than a year later. Many of the 3-inch examples were molded on the reverse PAT. FEB 8TH 1881 on one edge and L.C.T. & CO on the opposite edge. The larger 4-inch tiles are less frequently molded PAT. APPL’D FOR or PATENT APPLIED FOR.

The tiles were immediately utilized by Tiffany’s interior decorating firm, Louis C. Tiffany and Associated Artists, for fireplace surrounds, including one for Mark Twain’s home in Hartford, Connecticut in November 1881. Tiffany continued to incorporate these tiles in a variety of decorative schemes for the remainder of his life. The showroom at his Corona, New York factory featured a faux fireplace with a surround composed of tiles (see lot 315), as did at least one of the fireplaces in Tiffany’s Miami winter home, Comfort Lodge, constructed in 1920.

- PD