This early Paperweight Vase dates from a period of innovation in glassblowing at Louis Comfort Tiffany’s private glassworks in Corona, Queens. In the mid-1890s, experiments conducted by Tiffany’s glass chemists resulted in a technique known as “Paperweight” Favrile Glass, in which a motif, often featuring a complex layering, is cased within a thick clear layer of glass.
The simple form of this unusual vase serves as a canvas for an elaborate swirling design of varying colors characterized by multiple layers of opacity: gestural swirls of vibrant yellow glass with striations of varied colors hovering above a background of deep golden glass featuring a thicker motif of swirling veins of dark blue. The interior of the vase was fumed, allowing for a shimmering golden iridescence to shine through, further accenting the complexity of the motif above.
This exceptional example of early Tiffany Glass is inscribed on the underside with signature and date code.
Height: 7 inches (17.8 cm)
Diameter: 7 ½ inches (19 cm)
