Tiffany Studios New York Favrile Glass Vase

Tiffany Studios’ masterful use of gold foil inclusions to create an evocative abstraction truly shines in this experimental piece. The glass blower encased a bubble of clear glass with a marbled blend of deep ultramarine, ochre, and emerald green, artfully placed shattered gold and silver foil decoration and a final layer of clear glass. The elaborately decorated body was finished with an applied emerald glass collar. The process of embedding gold and silver leaf between two layers of glass originated as early as the first century, probably in Alexandria. The process consisted of spreading the leaf on a thin film of blown glass and pressing molten glass on to the leaf so that the molten glass cohered with the film of glass through the pores of the metallic leaf. Tiffany’s glass workers created the marbled effect of glass by using an old fifteenth century Muranese technique termed Calcedonia (Chalcedony). Silver and other elements were added to the glass to create a blend of colors – browns, greens, and hint of blue – the exact shades and degree of striation could not be controlled and vary from day to day and item to item. Each piece is a unique and irrepeatable work of art combining an ancient technical process with the best of modern craftsmanship. Additional mottles of glass were created by sprinkling and fusing cullet, small pea sized shards of waste glass, creating a spotted effect to the marbling.