Lot 321
  • 321

TIFFANY STUDIOS | Reactive Paperweight Vase

Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 USD
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Description

  • Tiffany Studios
  • Reactive Paperweight Vase
  • engraved 4432E L.C. Tiffany-Favrile
  • favrile glass
  • 4 1/4  in. (10.8 cm) high
  • circa 1907-1908

Provenance

Collection of Dr. Ernest Rieger, Wichita Kansas
Woody Auction Company, Douglass, Kansas, May 29, 2014, lot 211
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Literature

Albert Christian Revi, American Art Nouveau Glass, Camden, NJ, 1968, p. 52 (for a related example)
John Loring, Louis Comfort Tiffany at Tiffany & Co., New York, 2002, p. 144 (for a related example)
Marilynn A. Johnson, Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist for the Ages, London, 2005, p. 226 (for a related example)
Martin Eidelberg, Tiffany Favrile Glass and the Quest of Beauty, New York, 2007, p. 62 (for related examples)

Condition

Overall very good condition. This vase is decorated with an intricate, swirling depiction of autumnal leaves. When viewed with reflected light, the leaf decoration presents with bright apple green and warm amber and ochre tones against a saturated pale cobalt blue ground; when viewed with remitted light the light transmitted through the glass glows red and the vase displays overall warmer, predominantly red and purple tones. This effect achieved by the reactive quality of the glass imparts the vase with strong dynamism and visual impact. The glass with scattered minute air bubbles and particulate inclusions inherent in the making and not visually detractive. The glass surfaces with some occasional extremely minor and fine surface scratches consistent with age and gentle handling. The interior surface of the rim with a small area of subtly rough texture, possibly inherent in the making, measuring approximately 1 inch wide. The interior is beautifully iridized and presents with some minor light traces of surface soiling. A superb example of the firm’s Paperweight technique executed in rare reactive glass. Please feel welcome to contact the department for additional images of this vase.
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

Tiffany Studios never made glass paperweights in the traditional sense, with slices of millefiore canes embedded in hemispherical domes of solid transparent glass.  But they did create a type of vase that is today known as “paperweight technique.” In those instances, a design, frequently incorporating millefiore, was encased between two thin layers of transparent glass, with the interior usually receiving a gold or orange iridescence.

Blown Favrile glass paperweight vases are perhaps best known for containing an internal floral decoration.  There are, however, notable exceptions such as the one presented here.  Despite its relatively simple appearance, it is an exceptional piece.  An irregular leaf and vine motif was marvered into the initial gather of clear glass and was then covered with another transparent layer.  What makes this vase so special is that the decoration and inner layer were comprised of reactive, or heat sensitive, glass.  Once the gaffer had finished forming and decorating the object while it was on the pontil rod, the vase was then briefly placed in the furnace’s glory hole.  The intense heat struck the glass and converted the internal decoration to wonderful shades of brown, green and yellow.  At the same time, the heat created a swirled translucency to the inner layer that appears blue in reflected light.  Yet the vase appears brilliant red in transmitted light as a result of the heavy iridescence applied to the interior of the body.  This exemplary vase displays the artistic and technical innovations emblematic of Tiffany's most advanced glass production.

—Paul Doros