Pitcher

Accession Number
1972/2.226

Title
Pitcher

Artist(s)
Louis Comfort Tiffany

Object Creation Date
circa 1896-1900

Medium & Support
iridescent glass

Dimensions
6 3/16 x 5 9/16 x 3 15/16 in. (15.6 x 14 x 10 cm);6 3/16 x 5 9/16 x 3 15/16 in. (15.6 x 14 x 10 cm)

Credit Line
University purchase 1930, transferred to the Museum of Art, 1972/2.226

Label copy
March 28, 2009
Henry and Lousine Havemeyer were active collectors of the hand-made, iridescent glass made by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Though Tiffany had been known for making leaded glass windows since the late 1870s, he only began to make blown-glass vessels in the early 1890s—not long after he completed work on the Havemeyer house in New York. Tiffany’s term for this opulent glasswork was Favrile (a word 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 his Favrile glass; much of it was donated by the family to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. 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.

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 small blown glass pitcher consists of bands of glass applied to the body of the vessel; as the pitcher was blown, the glass between the bands expanded, shaping the vessel into four lobes.

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
glass (material)
modern and contemporary art
pitcher
pitchers (vessels)
vessels
vessels (containers)

& Author Notes

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