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Conserving Tiffany’s Gilded Age Drawings

This video is part of Conservation Stories, a documentary series that goes behind the scenes at The Met where a world-class team of curators and conservators maintain our global art collection.

From the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, Tiffany’s studios created thousands—or perhaps tens of thousands—of design drawings. The drawings encompassed the work of the studio during the height of the Gilded Age.

While most did not survive, The Met holds nearly four hundred Tiffany design drawings in its collection. The majority of the drawings were purchased by the Museum in 1967 despite significant damage from water, mold, dirt, and acidic papers.

Watch as Paper Conservator Marina Ruiz Molina works in collaboration with Curator Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen on a complex treatment to save a magnificent watercolor drawing for a conservatory recently identified as for a villa in Havana, Cuba, that over time, suffered significant damage.


Contributors

Archival images courtesy of:

Designing Room, Tiffany Studios, 1913. Character and Individuality in Decorations and Furnishings (New York, Tiffany Studios, 1913)
"Pembroke Mansion, Front Exterior". From the book North Shore Long Island: Country Houses, 1890-1950 by Paul J. Mateyunas (Acanthus Press, New York, 2007)
Aeolian Company Photographic Collection, Organ Historical Society Library and Archives, Villanova, Pennsylvania
The Art Institute of Chicago / Art Resource, NY
Herbert & Eileen Bernard Museum of Judaica, Temple Emanu-El, New York
Josefina de Mesa House in Havana, Cuba, Exterior Facade. Arquitectura Revista Mensual Vol. 1 No. 1 Julio 1917

Production credits:
Senior Manager of Media Production: Skyla Choi
Series Producer and Director: Ann Collins
Cinematographer and Editor: Lucas Groth
Music: Mark Suozzo
Additional Music: Jackie Andresen
Production Coordinator: Hayley Theisen
Additional Cinematography: Caroline Berler, Rozie Brockington, Jessy Price
Gaffer: Fernando Souto
Intern: Rozie Brockington

Special thanks:
Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Anthony W. and Lulu C. Wang Curator, The American Wing
Marina Ruiz Molina, Conservator, Department of Paper Conservation
Rachel A. Mustalish, Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge, Department of Paper Conservation
Corning Museum of Glass

Music cues:
Opening ©2026 Mark My Music (BMI)
The Visionary - Louis Comfort Tiffany ©2026 Mark My Music (BMI)
The Gilded Age ©2026 Mark My Music (BMI)
The Fountain ©2026 Mark My Music (BMI)
Mystery Drawing ©2026 Mark My Music (BMI)
Lab Work ©2026 Mark My Music (BMI)
The Treatment ©2026 Mark My Music (BMI)
The Conservatory ©2026 Mark My Music (BMI)
Restoration ©2026 Mark My Music (BMI)
The Work ©2026 Mark My Music (BMI)
The Final Step ©2026 Mark My Music (BMI)
Finale ©2026 Mark My Music (BMI)
Credits ©2026 Mark My Music (BMI)


Design for a Conservatory, Josefina de Mesa Residence, Havana, Cuba, Louis C. Tiffany  American, Transparent and opaque watercolor, ink and graphite on paper
Louis C. Tiffany
Designer Unidentified
Tiffany Studios
ca. 1915-16
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