In the late 1890s, the glassblowers at Louis Comfort Tiffany’s private glass furnaces produced a series of early Tiffany Favrile Glass vases that played with sculpture and volume. These vases may have had a variety of reference points for the glassblowers, including an extremely rare group of Favrile Glass vases that were mounted with bronze frames, in addition to ancient Roman glass.
The body of the baluster vase is formed by opaque gold iridescent Tiffany glass characterized by highly reflective shifting surface iridescence in vibrant tones of magenta, blue and green. The vase features decorative applied curvilinear “straps” of glass, in darker glass with rich purple surface iridescence, the rounded decoration standing out from the surface of the vase and appearing to constrict the glass beneath, resulting in a pillowed effect.
This rare example of early Tiffany Favrile Glass is inscribed on the underside and retains its original affixed paper label.
Height: 7 ½ inches (19 cm)
Related examples illustrated:
Martin Eidelberg, Tiffany Favrile Glass and the Quest of Beauty, New York: Lillian Nassau LLC, 2007, p. 36, fig. 41
