Tiffany Studios "Aventurine" Vase

Property formerly in the Collection of Louis Comfort Tiffany
Tiffany Studios
"Aventurine" Vase

circa 1897
Favrile glass
engraved Louis C. Tiffany/o3044 with the firm’s partial paper label
10 in. (25.4 cm) high
9¼ in. (23.5 cm) diameter

Condition Report:
Overall in very good condition. When viewed firsthand, the vase displays impressive scale and a highly dynamic shimmering surface. The background gradually transitions from dark red to amber yellow and is covered with bold tooled swirls. The glass incorporates copper filings which enhance the overall texture and visual interest of the surface. The glass presents with occasional minor air bubbles, particulate inclusions and surface irregularities which are inherent in the making and not visually distracting. The base with a later drilled hole to the center measuring approximately ½ in. in diameter, which is only visible from the interior and when the vase is turned over. The hole with several associated shallow clamshell chips and small losses to the glass, the largest measuring approximately 1 in. long and stable. The glass surfaces throughout with scattered, very fine and light surface scratches consistent with age and gentle handling. The interior of the vase with traces of light surface soiling. The underside of the vase is applied with a Doros Collection accession number. An extraordinary work exemplary of Tiffany’s ingenious glassmaking.

Catalogue Note:
A Glassmaking Tour de Force: The "Aventurine" Vase

Although there is no record of Louis Tiffany ever discussing a particular piece of blown Favrile glass, it is highly probable that this vase was among his favorites. The Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company thought it so important as to make it the first piece illustrated in the fifth edition of its Tiffany Favrile Glass catalog (1899). Tiffany then managed to place a photograph of the vase in five additional publications between 1899 and 1902. It is presumed that Louis Tiffany kept the vase after its return to the United States and it was eventually displayed at his Laurelton Hall mansion on Long Island. Later, the piece was one of only six blown glass vases illustrated in The Art Work of Louis C. Tiffany (1914), his authorized biography. The vase stayed at Laurelton Hall until 1936, when Percy A. Joseph purchased it and several other pieces from the Tiffany estate for a special exhibition in New York City. It was probably included in the Tiffany Studios liquidation auction organized by Joseph and Walter Jacobson that was held the following month.

The vase is incredible from a technical aspect. The tooled swirls in varying degrees of relief and the iridescence ranging from bright gold to brassy red vividly illustrate the gaffer’s extraordinary skills. This is also Tiffany’s most daring use of aventurine, a technique first used in 15th century Venice. By adding sparkling metallic filings to the molten glass, the Venetian artisans were able to imitate the glittering nature of aventurine crystals. Tiffany’s glass craftsmen in this example added copper filings, probably in combination with chromic oxide, throughout the piece, with some coming to the surface and turning a bright shade of green, helping to mark this vase as a glassmaking tour de force.

- PD

Provenance:
Louis Comfort Tiffany, Laurelton Hall, Laurel Hollow, New York
Percy A. Joseph, New York, 1936
Lillian Nassau, New York
Jim’s Antiques, Lambertville, New Jersey, 1999