Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2011.

Images(3)

Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2023.

Prototype Fragment of a Column

Designer Tiffany Studios (American, 1902-1932)

CultureAmerican

Dateca. 1900-1920

MediumFavrile glass tesserae embedded in plaster

Dimensions63 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (161.3 x 21.6 cm)
Base: 5 1/2 in. (14 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold B. McKinnon; Mr. and Mrs. Richard Barry III; Mr. and Mrs. Thomas L. Stokes, Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. James Summar, Sr. in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Waitzer and Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm P. Branch; Mr. and Mrs. John Shannon; Leah and Richard Waitzer; Nancy and Malcolm Branch; Mr. Jim Hixon; Mrs. Martha Stokes; Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Katz; Paramount Bedding Corporation Fund, and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., by exchange

Object number2007.19

Not on view

DescriptionGold and blue favrile glass tesserae are embedded in curved plaster to simulate a column. The tesserae form a pattern of two chains with interspersed pendant crosses, ending alternately with cross and tassel.

Label TextTiffany Glass & Decorating Company (1892–1902) or Tiffany Studios (1902–32) New York Prototype for a Column, ca. 1900–20 Favrile glass tesserae embedded in plaster With its elaborate tassels and iridescent gold and cerulean glass palette, this small prototype provided Tiffany’s prospective clients with a sense of the design and color palette proposed for a commissioned work. Two full-sized columns would later decorate the Chapel of the Angels in St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in New York City. Mosaics represent some of history’s most innovative and masterful uses of glass, and in the 1880s Tiffany found it a perfect medium for America’s new taste for lavish interiors. Museum purchase; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold B. McKinnon; Mr. and Mrs. Richard Barry III; Mr. and Mrs. Thomas L. Stokes, Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. James Summar, Sr., in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Waitzer and Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm P. Branch; Mr. and Mrs. John Shannon; Leah and Richard Waitzer; Nancy and Malcolm Branch; Mr. Jim Hixon; Mrs. Martha Stokes; Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Katz; Paramount Bedding Corporation Fund, and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., by exchange 2007.19 *includes an image* View of the Chapel of the Angels in St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, New York City. Photo ©The Corning Museum of Glass ProvenanceAcquired from Tiffany Studios bankruptcy sale, New York, 1930's; Purchased by Lillian Nassau, LLC, New York, 1970's; Lillian Nassau, LLC sold and then purchased back, New York, 1990's; Purchase, gift and by exchange Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, 2008 Exhibition HistoryTiffany Studios showroom, six full-sized columns with a mosaic pattern of long gold cords and tassels. Later moved to Laurelton Hall. Similar example of pattern and color. World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893, series of columns featured behind the altar in Tiffany's Byzantine-style chapel. These columns are now installed in the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, Winter Park, Florida. Similar example. "Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist for the Ages," Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, October 13, 2005 - January 4, 2006; Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, February 4 - April 30, 2006; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, May 28 - September 3, 2006; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 15, 2006 - January 15, 2007 "Louis C. Tiffany: Master of Glass," Musée du Luxembourg, September 16, 2009- January 10, 2010; The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, February 11 - May 2, 2010; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, June 5 - August 29, 2010. "Louis C. Tiffany and the Art of Devotion," Museum of Biblical Art, New York, New York, October 12, 2012 - January 20, 2013. "Tiffany's Glass Mosaics," May 20, 2017 - January 7, 2018, Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY.Published ReferencesMarilynn A. Johnson, _Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist for the Ages_, exh. cat., Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, October 13, 2005 - January 4, 2006; Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, February 4 - April 30, 2006; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, May 28 - September 3, 2006; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 15, 2006 - January 15, 2007. ISBN: 978-1857593846 Rosalind Pepall de Mestral, _Louis C. Tiffany: Le Maître du Verre_ (France: Gallimard, 2009). Patricia C. Pongracz, ed., _Louis C. Tiffany and the Art of Devotion_ (New York: Museum of Biblical Art, 2012), 110-111. Kelly A. Conway and Lindsy R. Parrott, _Tiffany's Glass Mosaics_, (Corning: The Corning Museum of Glass, 2017), 82-83.