Paperweight Vase

c. 1914–1918

Paperweight Vase, c. 1914–1918. Louis Comfort Tiffany (American, 1848–1933), Tiffany Studios (American, New York, 1902–1932). Glass; overall: 19.4 x 14.3 cm (7 5/8 x 5 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund 1970.126 When Louis Comfort Tiffany began collaborating with glass artists on new types of production, his aesthetic ambitions were finally realized in the development of Favrile glass, a term he created to imply “handmade.” Largely through his marketing ability, Favrile glass became America’s greatest contribution to the Art Nouveau style. His works were exhibited at international expositions; at galleries in major European cities, where his creations were bought by many museums; and in his store in Manhattan, known as the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Co., later Tiffany Studios. From the outset, Tiffany used Favrile glass in mosaic panels, stained glass windows, and his artistic line of table and floor lamps. Louis Comfort Tiffany's paperweight vases feature glass patterns inset into a separate background of glass in the same way that conventional paperweights are made.