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In 1892, Tiffany developed a new kind of blown glass he called Favrile (the name is derived from "fabrile," an old English word meaning hand wrought or handmade). The forms of Tiffany's Favrile glass have been described as organic abstractions having a satiny texture and variegated iridescent colors. Tiffany, like the Art Nouveau glassmakers, valued the glassblower's skill (a hot glass process) over that of the glass engraver (a cold glass process); he appreciated the soft iridescent sheen characteristic of ancient glass long buried in the ground; and he favored asymmetrical motifs reminiscent of nature over those designed by classical architects.
This vase, like the other three now preserved in the Reynolda House collection, are good examples of the effects Tiffany sought to achieve, employing metallic oxides, opalescent glass, and special techniques to create colorful unique accents for the home.
ProvenanceFrom 1964
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, acquired in 1964. [1]
Notes:
[1] In the early 1960s Charles H. Babcock (1899-1967) gave the house and its contents to the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. The house was then incorporated as a museum and collection (Reynolda House, Inc.) on December 18, 1964 with the signing of the charter at its first board meeting. The museum first opened to the public in September 1965.
Exhibition History
DepartmentHistoric House
Vase
Designer
Louis Comfort Tiffany
(1848 - 1933)
Date1910
Mediumglass, free-blown
DimensionsHeight: 7 in. (17.8 cm)
Other (circumference): 14 in. (35.6 cm)
Credit LineReynolda Estate
CopyrightPublic Domain
Object number1966.2.111.a
DescriptionA vase of white glass has been free-blown in an inverted pear shape and covered with areas of white (at top) and blue (around bottom half) iridescence. The blue has been pulled up into the white area yielding a feathered pattern reminiscent of the ancient glass that formed the core of Tiffany's ideas about making Art Nouveau glass. The disc-shaped foot is made of green glass and the opening of the vase is distinguished with amber iridescence. Its pontil mark, which was polished after the vase cooled, shows that the vase was formed while the mass of molten glass was attached to a blow pipe. The engraved mark has been arranged around the pontil mark.In 1892, Tiffany developed a new kind of blown glass he called Favrile (the name is derived from "fabrile," an old English word meaning hand wrought or handmade). The forms of Tiffany's Favrile glass have been described as organic abstractions having a satiny texture and variegated iridescent colors. Tiffany, like the Art Nouveau glassmakers, valued the glassblower's skill (a hot glass process) over that of the glass engraver (a cold glass process); he appreciated the soft iridescent sheen characteristic of ancient glass long buried in the ground; and he favored asymmetrical motifs reminiscent of nature over those designed by classical architects.
This vase, like the other three now preserved in the Reynolda House collection, are good examples of the effects Tiffany sought to achieve, employing metallic oxides, opalescent glass, and special techniques to create colorful unique accents for the home.
ProvenanceFrom 1964
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, acquired in 1964. [1]
Notes:
[1] In the early 1960s Charles H. Babcock (1899-1967) gave the house and its contents to the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. The house was then incorporated as a museum and collection (Reynolda House, Inc.) on December 18, 1964 with the signing of the charter at its first board meeting. The museum first opened to the public in September 1965.
Exhibition History
Status
On view