Cypriote vase

Artist Louis Comfort Tiffany (American, 1848–1933)

Date1921

MediumGlass

DimensionsHeight: 7 3/4 inches (19.7 cm);
Diameter: 2 1/4 inches (5.7 cm)

ClassificationsDecorative Arts

Credit LineGift of Louis Comfort Tiffany through the courtesy of A. Douglas Nash

Terms

Decorative Arts
Glassware
Vessels - Vases
Glass
American

Object number57.082

Label CopyBRIEF DESCRIPTION
This vase is an example of Tiffany’s Cypriote glass, created to mimic the look of ancient glass.

WHERE WAS IT MADE?
Tiffany glass was made at the Tiffany Glass Furnaces in Corona, located in Queens, New York.

WHO WAS THE ARTIST?
Louis Comfort Tiffany was the eldest son of Charles L. Tiffany, founder of Tiffany & Company, the New York jeweler. Tiffany was trained as a painter, studying with both George Inness and Samuel Coleman in New York and Leon Bailly in Paris. He eventually turned his attention to decorative arts and began experimenting with glass-making techniques in 1875. After success with stained glass windows and mosaics, Tiffany established the Tiffany Glass Company in 1885 and began devoting production to one-of-a-kind blown glass art objects. He soon became one of America’s most prolific designers, providing furniture, wallcoverings, textiles, jewelry and glass to some of society’s most important citizens.

HOW WAS IT MADE?
Ancient glass often has an iridescent surface resulting from corrosion that occurs while it is buried beneath the earth. To mimic the appearance of ancient glass, Tiffany developed a technique of exposing molten glass to metallic fumes after it has been rolled on a marver and covered in pulverized glass crumbs. Notice how this gives the glass a textured, iridescent surface.

To see another example of a Tiffany Cypriote vase in the Johnson Museum’s collection, search for object number 57.098 in the keyword search box.

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