Vase in Celtic encircled birds pattern
Louis C. Tiffany’s studios worked in virtually every decorative media. He introduced pottery into the firm’s oeuvre shortly after he had witnessed the almost revolutionary artistic ceramics shown in Paris in 1900 at the Exposition Universelle. He unveiled his new Favrile pottery, as he called it, in 1904 at the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition in St. Louis, where they received accolades. Women played an important role in the design and production of Tiffany’s pottery, as they had for lampshades and enamels.
While most of Tiffany’s enamels are organic in inspiration, the design of this vase, or possibly a lampbase, was medieval, an historical period of which designers in the Aesthetic and Arts and Crafts modes were much enamored. Here, the low-relief design is of Romanesque-inspired interlocking circles, each of which encloses a medievalized bird or pair of birds.
While most of Tiffany’s enamels are organic in inspiration, the design of this vase, or possibly a lampbase, was medieval, an historical period of which designers in the Aesthetic and Arts and Crafts modes were much enamored. Here, the low-relief design is of Romanesque-inspired interlocking circles, each of which encloses a medievalized bird or pair of birds.
Artwork Details
- Title: Vase in Celtic encircled birds pattern
- Manufacturer: Tiffany Studios (1902–32)
- Date: 1904–9
- Geography: Made in New York, New York, United States
- Culture: American
- Medium: Porcelaneous earthenware
- Dimensions: 5 × 9 in. (12.7 × 22.9 cm)
- Credit Line: Gift of Margery and Edgar Masinter, in honor of Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, 2017
- Object Number: 2017.654
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing
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Tiffany Studios
ca. 1912
Tiffany Studios
1902–18
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ca. 1905–10
Tiffany Studios
1900–1907
Tiffany Studios
1900–1907
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