Lot 219
  • 219

Tiffany Studios

Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Tiffany Studios
  • Carved Cameo "Magnolia" Vase
  • engraved L.C.Tiffany-Favrile 5003C

Provenance

Macklowe Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Condition

Overall in very good condition. With a few small and minute air bubble inclusions, and with a small collapsed air bubble on the lower interior, all inherent in the making and not at all visually detracting. The interior of the rim with some short successive vertical tool marks inherent in the making (these are quite common and not at all visually detracting). With some traces of light surface soiling on the lower interior. A stunning example with masterful carved decoration and a highly artistic composition. The vase, which comprises four layers of glass, is exquisitely carved to impart a strong sense of visual depth. Just below the top aperture rim, the vase displays a subtle hammered matte exterior, which effectively draws the viewer's attention to the carved petals below.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

CARVING GLASS FROM NATURE

Louis C. Tiffany and Arthur J. Nash purchased Slow’s Laundry in Corona, New York in April 1893 and quickly converted the building into a glasshouse.  The enterprise, named the Stourbridge Glass Company in honor of the English glassmaking center where Nash honed his craft, first began by producing the flat glass required for Tiffany’s rapidly expanding leaded glass window business.  Due to Nash’s influence, however, the glasshouse soon thereafter also started to make blown-glass objects.  Among these earliest pieces were those that featured cut and engraved designs.

The initial offerings clearly exemplify Tiffany’s initial design and glassmaking innovations, yet with an eye toward satisfying popular taste.  A New York Times article reviewing the first major exhibition of blown Favrile vases in May 1894 stated: “The range of colors is very great, passing from liquid crystal, in some cases engraved in diamond facets or in low relief, to the darkest of bottle glass.  Some of the combinations of colors, some of the shades and hues of one color, are successful; others look like attempts that were better thrown away.”  In addition to revealing the exhibition was not a complete critical triumph, the review also exposes Tiffany’s attempt to appeal to buyers of brilliant cut glass, which was perhaps the most commercially successful American-made glass of the period.

The glasshouse’s engraved and carved cameo glass designs quickly became more inventive and achieved national recognition with Tiffany’s hiring of Fredolin Kreischmann later in 1894.  Kreischmann, a native of Austria, was trained in Birmingham, England and was acknowledged as one of Europe’s finest engravers, being decorated by King Ludwig of Bavaria and Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, as well as admitted into the French Legion of Honor.  Louis Tiffany was evidently impressed by his exhibit at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and proceeded to hire him, at “a high salary,” to work for the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company.

Kreischmann’s work was both a critical and commercial success.  His engraved and cameo pieces were considered masterpieces, some of them selling for the incredible sum of $1500, and found their way into the collections of the Vanderbilts, Goulds and Havemeyers.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Royal Museum (Berlin) and the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum) also obtained examples of his work.  The vase offered in this auction (lot 221), made around 1898, clearly demonstrates the glasshouse’s and Kreischmann’s incredible skills.  The finely engraved foliage and the beautifully carved cameo flowers are clear indications that this piece was the work of a master craftsman.

Fredolin Kreischmann’s death on August 6, 1898, at the age of 45, could have had a devastating effect on the glasshouse.  Even six months later, the (Brooklyn) Daily Standard Union described the loss as “a vacancy which is found almost impossible to fill.”  However, superbly skilled engravers were eventually discovered to replace him and the company continued to manufacture exemplary engraved and carved cameo pieces for the remainder of its existence.

The fact that the glasshouse made works in cameo is no surprise, considering Nash’s background working for Edward Webb in England and Tiffany’s knowledge of what Gallé was doing in France.  Tiffany’s cameo glass, however, differed radically from the commercial European production in two important aspects.  While the European glassworks generally cased, or covered, the entire body of the piece with a single or multiple layers of glass and then removed the background with acid to create the cameo effect, Tiffany’s glassworkers usually padded small pieces of differently colored glass onto the body. Instead of acid, they used engraving and cutting tools to form and refine the design.  Both of these techniques added considerably to the cost of production, but it gave Tiffany the appearance he desired.  

The three additional cameo pieces being offered present unmistakable evidence that the glasshouse was able to produce objects at a level equal to, or even exceeding, those standards of excellence established by Kreischmann.  The small vase (lot 219), superbly carved with a magnolia blossom, displays a depth of cutting and carving rarely seen in similar examples. Also, the transparent upper third of the body, with a slightly hammered matte exterior, focuses the viewer’s attention directly to the petals.  The slightly baluster-shaped vase (lot 220), with an interior orange-gold iridescence, is wonderfully wheel-carved with nasturtiums, one of the company’s favorite cameo motifs.   The final piece in the grouping (lot 222) is exceptional for several of reasons.  First, the subject matter of autumnal leaves is one rarely found in any example of blown Favrile glass.  Furthermore, the palette is astonishing, with exquisite shades of green, orange-red and yellow creating a dazzling artistic effect. The fact that the vase is inscribed “A-coll” on the base is proof that Louis Tiffany also recognized its virtuosity by selecting it to be in his personal collection.  Moreover, it is clearly evident that the private collector who acquired these four vases had an equally discerning eye for craftsmanship and beauty.

–Paul Doros