Tiffany & Co.

Private Collection, New York

Thence by descent to the present owner

Marilynn A. Johnson, Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist for the Ages, London, 2010, p. 51, figs. 10 and 11 (for related examples)

Rosalind Pepall, Tiffany Glass: A Passion for Color, New York, 2010, p. 194, figs. 162-164 (for related examples)

Tiffany & Co., the world-famous jewelry firm owned by Charles Tiffany, Louis’ father, was the only enterprise in New York City, besides Tiffany Studios, permitted to retail the diverse products manufactured by Louis’ various firms. Tiffany & Co., in addition to marketing Favrile glass objects, purchased approximately 200 pieces between 1897 and 1909 to which they designed and added custom-made silver or gold mounts. The object presented here was possibly part of a series of approximately 15 scent bottles, at the time referred to as vinaigrettes, several of which were produced specifically for Tiffany & Company’s exhibition at the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle. The gold mounts and caps were designed by Paulding Farnham (1859-1927), the head of the firm’s jewelry department as well as a board member. Trained under the guidance of his predecessor, Edward C. Moore, Farnham’s designs featured inset gems and impeccable metalsmithing as perhaps best illustrated in The Adam Vase that is in the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The mount of this scent bottle exhibits the same exacting craftsmanship as The Adams Vase but in a smaller scale. Both the collar and hinged cover are finely cast with stylized floriate motifs set with diamonds and peridot that are wonderful accents to the shimmering iridescence on the gold Favrile glass body. This rare creation again superbly demonstrates the brilliant collaboration between one of the world’s great glasshouses with an equally accomplished jeweler.

– PAUL DOROS