18 Items in this Learning Collection
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Copyright
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Element from a mosaic frieze, entrance hall of the H.O. Havemeyer House, New York (one of 10 elements)

Accession Number
1986.146.8A

Title
Element from a mosaic frieze, entrance hall of the H.O. Havemeyer House, New York (one of 10 elements)

Artist(s)
Louis Comfort Tiffany

Object Creation Date
1890-1891

Medium & Support
iridescent glass on plaster

Dimensions
34 in x 22 in (86.36 cm x 55.88 cm)

Credit Line
University purchase 1930, transferred to the Museum of Art, 1986.146.8A

Label copy
March 28, 2009
The foyer of the Havemeyer house contained a frieze that ran very high along the walls, close to the ceiling. The combination of patterning—including the scroll pattern at the bottom that is similar to that on the peacock mosaic—underscores the flat and essentially decorative quality of the frieze. As with the peacock mosaic, here Tiffany juxtaposes translucent and opaque tesserae, or glass tiles, to enliven the patterns. The hexagonal shapes in the mosaic may refer to the six-sided table that originally stood in the entrance hall of the house.

Subject matter
This panel is one of several panels of the same design that formed a frieze in the foyer of the H.O. Havemeyer House in New York City. The geometric patterning recalls Roman and Near Eastern examples, but the serpentine patterning also roots the mosaic in the Art Nouveau style of the time.

Physical Description
This mosaic panel depicts flowers and tendrils against a background with both a chevron pattern and a round flower-like patten. Along either side is a tapering beige element that is half of a blade of a plant; when joined with another panel, they create a full plant blade.

Primary Object Classification
Decorative Arts

Primary Object Type
architectural element

Collection Area
Western

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

5 Related Resources

The Havemeyer Tiffany Collection
(Part of 5 Learning Collections)
Handout: See, Think, Wonder   
(Part of: Pre-Visit Materials)
Essay: Havemeyer House
(Part of: Essays)
W24 Barry - ENVIRON 244: Art in Nature: Micro to Macro
(Part of: Examples of Online Activities)
SP21 Barry - ENVIRON 244: Art in Nature: Micro to Macro
(Part of: Examples of Online Activities)

& Author Notes

All Rights Reserved