Tiffany Studios - Design New York Tuesday, December 17, 2019 | Phillips
  • Provenance

    The Estate of Aaron Frank
    Sotheby's, New York, "Important Art Nouveau," March 29, 1979, lot 40
    Edwin and Mary Triestman
    Sotheby's, New York, "The Edwin & Mary Triestman Collection of Important Glass," June 14, 2006, lot 303
    Acquired from the above by the present owner

  • Literature

    Albert Christian Revi, American Art Nouveau Glass, Camden, NJ, 1968, p. 13 for a similar example

  • Catalogue Essay

    Phillips would like to thank Dr. Martin Eidelberg for his assistance cataloguing the present lot.

    Louis Comfort Tiffany’s career as an artist, designer, and businessman is perhaps best summarized as an exploration of beauty through innovation and relentless experimentation. These four works from the Fromer Collection speak to the diversity of approaches to design that Tiffany Studios took at the beginning of the twentieth century. The Diatreta vase (lot 143) is an example of Tiffany’s groundbreaking invention of Favrile glass, the term that he used for his iridescent glassware. Diatreta refers to the cup’s form, which originates from Ancient Roman glassmaking traditions in which the lace-like exterior of the vessel is detached from the inner beaker form. Later, Tiffany began exploring ceramic making with his lamp bases, such as lot 140, in which he imitated the appearance of metalsmithing techniques. Tiffany Studio’s later pottery was often monochromatic and relied on motifs from nature, as seen in the vase with seed pods (lot 142).

Important Works from the Ann and Robert Fromer Collection

142

"Diatreta" vase

circa 1907
Favrile glass.
2 7/8 in. (7.3 cm) high
Underside with Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company paper label, likely applied later.

Estimate
$7,000 - 9,000 

Contact Specialist

DesignNewYork@phillips.com
+1 212 940 1265

Design

New York Auction 17 December 2019