Accession Number
1972/2.200

Title
Vase

Artist(s)
Louis Comfort Tiffany

Object Creation Date
circa 1896-1900

Medium & Support
iridescent green, blue and purple glass

Dimensions
6 1/8 x 3 7/8 x 3 7/8 in. (15.4 x 9.8 x 9.8 cm);6 1/8 x 3 7/8 x 3 7/8 in. (15.4 x 9.8 x 9.8 cm)

Credit Line
University purchase 1930, transferred to the Museum of Art, 1972/2.200

Label copy
Henry and Lousine Havemeyer were active collectors of the favrille, or hand-made, iridescent glass made by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Tiffany had been known for making leaded windows since the late 1870s, but only began to make blown-glass vessels in the early 1890s—not long after his work on the Havemeyer house in New York. Working with Tiffany to select outstanding pieces, the Havemeyers amassed an impressive collection of Tiffany’s favrille glass; most of it was donated by the family to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Most of the Tiffany glass in the University of Michigan’s collection was purchased at auction (along with the architectural fragments) by Emil Lorch in 1930.
(C. McNamara, 18th-19th Century Gallery installation, early 1999)
In conversation with Jennifer Perry Thalheimer, Collections Manager, Charles Hosmer Morse Museum, Rollins College, Winter Park, FL (6/27/06) comes the following information:
The label on the bottom of the vessel FAVRILE T G D CO stands for Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company and was added to glass works created between 1892 and 1900 (although a few were used after 1900). There is work ongoing about the numbers etched into the bases of Tiffany glass works to establish what they might indicate as to dating, style, inventory, etc.

Subject matter
Henry and Lousine Havemeyer were active collectors of the hand-made, iridescent glass made by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Tiffany had been known for making leaded windows since the late 1870s, but only began to make blown-glass vessels in the early 1890s—not long after his work on the Havemeyer house in New York. Tiffany’s term for this opulent glasswork was Favrile (a term derived from the Old English work fabrile, meaning “handmade”); Tiffany obtained a patent for the richly colored and iridescent
Favrile glass in 1894.
Working with Tiffany to select outstanding pieces, the Havemeyers amassed an impressive collection of Tiffany’s Favrile glass; much of it was donated by the family to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Nearly all of the Tiffany glass in the University of Michigan’s collection was purchased at auction in 1930, along with the architectural fragments, by Emil Lorch, University of Michigan's Dean of the College of Architecture and Design.

Physical Description
This vase in iridescent glass consists of a large swelling shoulder that tapers towards a narrow base. The decoration in mauve, pink, blue and brown includes feather designs, including peacock tail "eye" design.

Primary Object Classification
Decorative Arts

Primary Object Type
vase

Additional Object Classification(s)
Decorative Arts

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.

Keywords
glass
modern and contemporary art
vase
vessels