vase

Object NameFavrile “Aquamarine” Paperweight Vase

Artistic Director Louis Comfort Tiffany (American, 1848 - 1933)

Manufacturer Tiffany Studios (American, 1902 - 1932)

Manufacturer(glass) Tiffany Furnaces (American, 1902 - 1920)

Made FromGlass

Dateabout 1912

Place MadeUnited States, NY, Corona

TechniqueBlown

SizeOverall H: 12.4 cm; Rim Diam: 19.6 cm; Body Diam: 13.1 cm

Accession Number54.4.6

Credit LineBequest of Ellen D. Sharpe

Curatorial Area(s)

Modern

Exhibitions

Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist for the Ages

Designs in Miniature: The Story of Mosaic Glass

On ViewModern Gallery

Interpretive Notes

Web Text

After returning from a seaside vacation, Tiffany was intent on replicating sea life in glass. Tiffany sent Arthur Saunders (American, born England, 1874–1951), a lead glassmaker at Tiffany Furnaces, to Bermuda to sail on a glass-bottom boat and study undersea life. When Saunders returned, he created “Aquamarine” glass, one of the last significant designs developed by Tiffany Furnaces. In this vase, glass sea anemones, barnacles, and seaweed look as if they are submerged in water. The base of the vase is solid glass, and its shallow rim at the top completes the impression the vase has already been filled with water.

Physical DescriptionFavrile “Aquamarine” Paperweight Vase. Transparent very pale greenish glass; blown. Solid, extremely heavy round base, with a flattened bottom with ground pontil mark and ground base; shallow top with upcurved rim. In the bottom are incased millefiori-like heavy canes on a green ground, surrounded by enameled strips: an imitation of barnacles or anemones surrounded by seaweed. Scratched engraved on the base: "5194 Gr. L.C. Tiffany-Favrile".
Provenance

Source Ellen D. Sharpe - 1954-06-01