Tiffany Studios Monumental Exhibition Vase
Tiffany Studios
Monumental Exhibition Vase
circa 1919
Favrile glass
engraved 4357N Louis C. Tiffany Inc. Favrile Special Exhibit
13¾ in. (34.9 cm) high
7¼ in. (18.4 cm) diameter
Condition Report:
Overall in very good condition. When viewed firsthand, the monumental vase displays a very dark green and blue ground that contrast with the vivid yellow, green, orange and blue decorations. The interior of the rim is further enhanced by painterly streaks of pink and pale blue. 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 interior of the vase with traces of light surface soiling. The underside of the vase is applied with a Doros Collection accession number. A handsome and impressively sized work with distinct modernist quality.
Catalogue Note:
The present lot was possibly produced for the 1920 Paris Salon.
Bold Brilliance: The Sovereign Importance of Color
“Nature is always right,” Louis Tiffany’s oft quoted mantra, comes from a talk he presented to the Rembrandt Club of Brooklyn in 1918. He expressed this artistic philosophy throughout his life and Tiffany’s oeuvre clearly demonstrates an overwhelming devotion to nature. Later in the same speech, however, he declares “the sovereign importance of color” and that “the objective and subjective must be married and intimately blended by the subtle implement of color.” Long before his companies were creating stunning landscape windows and floral-inspired lamp shades, Tiffany was renowned as one of America’s leading colorists, a supremely talented artist and interior decorator with a brilliant tonal sense and an innate gift for devising unusual and totally unexpected, but highly successful, color combinations.
Tiffany's fascination with the interaction of colors was transferred to his glassworkers. Not all combinations were as successful as others but, more often the not, the final result was extraordinary and unlike any glass decoration ever attempted. The monumental vase offered here is a prime example. The base glass is a highly unusual transparent cobalt with opaque streaks of red, pastel blue, cream and chestnut descending from the top rim into the interior. The exterior is decorated with a motif reminiscent of lily pads, with umber and yellow ovals, of varying sizes and shapes, among darker vertical vines, all finely outlined in teal. There is, however, no design precedent for the narrow linear shapes, also bordered in teal, randomly scattered around the body. The vase exquisitely illustrates Caryl Coleman’s 1898 comment on Tiffany’s productions: “The predominating motif in all his glass work is based upon a recognition of the beauty of color, for color’s sake, irrespective of form;…his criterion of coloration cannot be defined, it is as changeable as the ever-varying opal.”
- PD
Provenance:
Doyle, New York, June 8, 1983, lot 539
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Tiffany Studios
Monumental Exhibition Vase
circa 1919
Favrile glass
engraved 4357N Louis C. Tiffany Inc. Favrile Special Exhibit
13¾ in. (34.9 cm) high
7¼ in. (18.4 cm) diameter
Condition Report:
Overall in very good condition. When viewed firsthand, the monumental vase displays a very dark green and blue ground that contrast with the vivid yellow, green, orange and blue decorations. The interior of the rim is further enhanced by painterly streaks of pink and pale blue. 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 interior of the vase with traces of light surface soiling. The underside of the vase is applied with a Doros Collection accession number. A handsome and impressively sized work with distinct modernist quality.
Catalogue Note:
The present lot was possibly produced for the 1920 Paris Salon.
Bold Brilliance: The Sovereign Importance of Color
“Nature is always right,” Louis Tiffany’s oft quoted mantra, comes from a talk he presented to the Rembrandt Club of Brooklyn in 1918. He expressed this artistic philosophy throughout his life and Tiffany’s oeuvre clearly demonstrates an overwhelming devotion to nature. Later in the same speech, however, he declares “the sovereign importance of color” and that “the objective and subjective must be married and intimately blended by the subtle implement of color.” Long before his companies were creating stunning landscape windows and floral-inspired lamp shades, Tiffany was renowned as one of America’s leading colorists, a supremely talented artist and interior decorator with a brilliant tonal sense and an innate gift for devising unusual and totally unexpected, but highly successful, color combinations.
Tiffany's fascination with the interaction of colors was transferred to his glassworkers. Not all combinations were as successful as others but, more often the not, the final result was extraordinary and unlike any glass decoration ever attempted. The monumental vase offered here is a prime example. The base glass is a highly unusual transparent cobalt with opaque streaks of red, pastel blue, cream and chestnut descending from the top rim into the interior. The exterior is decorated with a motif reminiscent of lily pads, with umber and yellow ovals, of varying sizes and shapes, among darker vertical vines, all finely outlined in teal. There is, however, no design precedent for the narrow linear shapes, also bordered in teal, randomly scattered around the body. The vase exquisitely illustrates Caryl Coleman’s 1898 comment on Tiffany’s productions: “The predominating motif in all his glass work is based upon a recognition of the beauty of color, for color’s sake, irrespective of form;…his criterion of coloration cannot be defined, it is as changeable as the ever-varying opal.”
- PD
Provenance:
Doyle, New York, June 8, 1983, lot 539
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Time, Location
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