Rare Byzantine Thermometer

This standing Thermometer is a rare piece from Tiffany Studios’ Byzantine Desk Set, one of the more elaborately decorated desk sets designed by the company. The Byzantine set, listed for sale in Tiffany & Co.’s Blue Book from 1908 to 1914, and was one of the most expensive Desk Sets ever produced by Tiffany Studios. The set’s relief decoration was based on metalwork from the Byzantine empire, a repeated source of artistic inspiration for Louis Comfort Tiffany,

This gilt bronze Thermometer, which is supported by a decorative easel stand, features the Byzantine set’s decoration of raised bronze beads and inset flat, panels of emerald green Tiffany glass with beveled edges, accented by an inset rounded pressed Tiffany Glass cabochon in a variegated turquoise color, alluding to the naturally occurring stone.

This Thermometer retains its original mercury-filled glass tube and is fully functional. A temperature scale along the side of the tube features four notations indicating “blood heat,” “summer heat,” “temperate,” and “freezing.”

This rare example of Tiffany Studios’ metalwork is stamped on the reverse with firm’s mark and model number.

Height: 7 ¾ inches (20 cm)
Width: 3 inches (7.6 cm)