Vase

Accession Number
1972/2.211

Title
Vase

Artist(s)
Louis Comfort Tiffany

Object Creation Date
circa 1900

Medium & Support
iridescent blue and green glass

Dimensions
6 1/2 x 3 x 3 in. (16.5 x 7.6 x 7.6 cm);6 1/2 x 3 x 3 in. (16.5 x 7.6 x 7.6 cm)

Credit Line
University purchase 1930, transferred to the Museum of Art, 1972/2.211

Label copy
In conversation with Jennifer Perry Thalheimer, Collections Manager, Charles Hosmer Morse Museum, Rollins College, Winter Park, FL (6/27/06) comes the following information:
Those works initialed with L.C.T. or in which Tiffany's name is written out on the base does not indicated that Tiffany himself was responsible for the creation of the work. Although he passed design ideas to his artists, he did not personally oversee the creation of all of his works. As other favrile glass artists began to compete with Tiffany, the initials may have been just to establish that the work came from the Tiffany company studio.
There is work ongoing about the numbers on paper labels or etched into the bases of Tiffany glass works to establish what they might indicate as to dating, style, inventory, etc.

Subject matter
Tiffany was conversant with glass (both mosaics and blown glass vessels) from different cultures and epochs, including that of ancient Rome. This miniature vase exhibits Tiffany's mastery of asymmetrical form (which recalls late antique glass as well as sharing in the aesthetic of Art Nouveau) and recalls the beautiful small bottles that contained perfumes or precious oils excavated from Roman sites. Tiffany's gorgeous use of color and iridescence in a small vase such as this also evokes the iridescence of excavated Roman glass--not an intended effect in the Roman work but a result of chemical changes in the glass as a consequence of contact with acidic and moist earth. In this small vase, Tiffany conjures up all the rich association of late Roman glass as well as the opulent color and lines of Tiffany's contemporary arts and crafts.

Physical Description
irridescent green and blue teadrop-shaped vessel with vertical ribbing

Primary Object Classification
Decorative Arts

Primary Object Type
glass

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
vases
vessels

1 Related Resource

Cabinet S: Shelf 2
(Part of: Albertine Monroe-Brown Study-Storage Gallery)

& Author Notes

All Rights Reserved

On display

UMMA Gallery Location ➜ AMH, 2nd floor ➜ 205 (Albertine Monroe-Brown Study-Storage Gallery) ➜ Cabinet S ➜ Shelf 2