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Cypriote Vase

Creator: Tiffany Studios
Offered by: Lillian Nassau LLC

Description
Cypriote Favrile Glass was developed during a period of creative experimentation in the mid-1890s at Louis Comfort Tiffany’s glass furnace in Corona, Queens.

Tiffany’s Cypriote Glass typically features pockmarked texture and richly colored shimmering iridescence. Cypriote glass was intended to replicate the pitted surfaces of the ancient Roman glassware unearthed in the mid-19th century by Luigi Palma di Cesnola on the island of Cyprus. The chemical reactions between the minerals in the soil and the objects which had been buried for centuries resulted in fascinating textures, colors and iridescence. In the mid-1870s Cesnola’s archaeological discoveries were acquired by and exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where they were likely seen by Louis Comfort Tiffany, who then encouraged chemist Arthur Nash and his glassblowers to experiment to recreate the unusual effects using modern techniques.

The entire surface of this Cypriote Vase, dating from around 1916, is characterized by rough pitted surface texture, accented by shimmering iridescence in vibrant tones including gold, green, blue, and magenta. The form may also have been inspired by ancient glass; the slightly irregular everted rim and piriform body bear some similarity to a group of small perfume bottles and flasks from the 2nd-3rd centuries in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Cesnola Collection.

This rare example of blown Tiffany Favrile Glass is inscribed on the underside with signature and date code.  

Height: 5 ¼ inches (13.3 cm)

References:
Martin Eidelberg, “Tiffany Favrile Glass and the Quest of Beauty,” (Lillian Nassau LLC, New York: 2007), 28

More Information

Documentation:	Signed
Period:	1900-1919
Creation Date:	1916
Styles / Movements:	Art Nouveau, Modern
Incollect Reference #:	809460

Dimensions

H.	5.25 in;
H.	13.34 cm;

Message from Seller:

Lillian Nassau LLC, established in 1945, specializes in the extraordinary work of Tiffany Studios and Louis Comfort Tiffany, including lamps, glass, pottery, and metalwork. With over seventy-five years of expertise, they also offer 19th and 20th-century Decorative Art, Design, and Sculpture—contact them today at 212.759.6062 or via email at info@lilliannassau.com.