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Tiffany promoted his vases in brochures and through exhibitions,
actively encouraging American and foreign museums to acquire them. Siegfried
Bing, the influential Parisian art dealer who was Tiffany's European agent,
was a pivotal figure in arranging for acquisitions of Favrile vases by museums
in Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen, London, and Tokyo. Tiffany vases were also
acquired early on by several American museums, including the Metropolitan.
In 1896, undoubtedly at Tiffany's suggestion, the Metropolitan received
fifty-six examples as a donation from H. O. Havemeyer. At the time of the
gift Havemeyer specified that the glass was to be arranged in the cabinets
by Tiffany personally, with the help of Samuel Colman.
In 1925 Tiffany loaned the Metropolitan twenty-seven pieces
from his own collection. Presumably desirous of supplementing the limited
techniques represented by the Havemeyer gift of earlier objects, he added
the most highly developed examples of his style from 1897 to 1913. After
his death the loan became a gift to the Museum by the Louis Comfort Tiffany
Foundation. The variety of styles and techniques represented in these two
collections are a testament to the extraordinary skill of the glassworkers
in his employ. With their unusual shapes, textures, colors, and finishes,
his Favrile vessels remain among his most creative achievements.
Favrile
glass introduction: 1,
2
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