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Lot Essay
Buildings adorned with tile, stone, shell or glass mosaic has always been a part of ancient architecture. For many centuries, glass mosaics have been a sign of wealth and luxury. As described by Seneca in 64 AD: “a man feels poor and mean if his vaults are not hidden by glass”. Admiring these masterworks during his European travels as a young man would later inspire Louis Tiffany to explore this ancient art form.
In 1896, the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company published a volume entitled Glass Mosaics, and in it praised the virtues of mosaics, claiming that they were "unrestricted in color, impervious to moisture and absolutely permanent". The booklet referred to the ancient mosaics of Pompeii and Rome and described the interior of Constantinople's Hagia Sophia as "the most wonderful creation in glass-mosaic the world has ever seen."
Tiffany used glass mosaics in his interiors as early as in 1879 for the Union League Club of New York. In 1893, he designed a spectacular Byzantine chapel for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, which brought him international acclaim.
In August 1896, the New York Times reported: “The Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company has on exhibition at Charles Scribner & Co.’s, on Fifth Avenue, a mosaic in glass which will ultimately be placed in the Alexander Memorial Hall at Princeton University… It is intended that three panels be placed beneath the three children, representing science, literature, and art, respectively taken from certain scenes of Homer’s Iliad, so that they will be both historical and typical.”
Completed in 1894, Princeton’s Alexander Hall was designed by architect William Appleton Potter. The Richardson Auditorium which was enclosed within the main structure would be completed a few years later in 1896. The glass mosaic ‘Heroes and Heroines of the Homeric Story’, commissioned from Tiffany Studios, was designed by Swiss-born artist Jacob A. Holzer (1858-1938). Measuring 10 by 35 feet, this impressive project took two years to execute and included more than thirty figures, six horses, and an elaborately decorated background and frieze.
For each major mosaic commission, Tiffany’s artists would submit a watercolor of the overall design. A sample panel, such as the present lot, which represents the profile of one of the young boys, was often executed for the client’s approval. Once the commission was accepted, a full scale cartoon was created to enable Tiffany’s artists to complete the project. As described by the New York Times, “the process for making the glass mosaic figures [was] peculiar from the fact that the glass is always in front of the artist, so that he can work and correct mistakes as he progresses. In Europe, on the other hand, the ordinary way is to work from the back of the mosaic”.
Remarkable for the gracefulness of his face and his refined curly hair, but most especially for the delicate tone of his translucent skin, the child’s figure is complemented by the Byzantine-inspired gold background. This mosaic sample, likely representing Science, was the perfect subject to showcase Tiffany’s exceptional virtuosity in glass.
In 1896, the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company published a volume entitled Glass Mosaics, and in it praised the virtues of mosaics, claiming that they were "unrestricted in color, impervious to moisture and absolutely permanent". The booklet referred to the ancient mosaics of Pompeii and Rome and described the interior of Constantinople's Hagia Sophia as "the most wonderful creation in glass-mosaic the world has ever seen."
Tiffany used glass mosaics in his interiors as early as in 1879 for the Union League Club of New York. In 1893, he designed a spectacular Byzantine chapel for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, which brought him international acclaim.
In August 1896, the New York Times reported: “The Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company has on exhibition at Charles Scribner & Co.’s, on Fifth Avenue, a mosaic in glass which will ultimately be placed in the Alexander Memorial Hall at Princeton University… It is intended that three panels be placed beneath the three children, representing science, literature, and art, respectively taken from certain scenes of Homer’s Iliad, so that they will be both historical and typical.”
Completed in 1894, Princeton’s Alexander Hall was designed by architect William Appleton Potter. The Richardson Auditorium which was enclosed within the main structure would be completed a few years later in 1896. The glass mosaic ‘Heroes and Heroines of the Homeric Story’, commissioned from Tiffany Studios, was designed by Swiss-born artist Jacob A. Holzer (1858-1938). Measuring 10 by 35 feet, this impressive project took two years to execute and included more than thirty figures, six horses, and an elaborately decorated background and frieze.
For each major mosaic commission, Tiffany’s artists would submit a watercolor of the overall design. A sample panel, such as the present lot, which represents the profile of one of the young boys, was often executed for the client’s approval. Once the commission was accepted, a full scale cartoon was created to enable Tiffany’s artists to complete the project. As described by the New York Times, “the process for making the glass mosaic figures [was] peculiar from the fact that the glass is always in front of the artist, so that he can work and correct mistakes as he progresses. In Europe, on the other hand, the ordinary way is to work from the back of the mosaic”.
Remarkable for the gracefulness of his face and his refined curly hair, but most especially for the delicate tone of his translucent skin, the child’s figure is complemented by the Byzantine-inspired gold background. This mosaic sample, likely representing Science, was the perfect subject to showcase Tiffany’s exceptional virtuosity in glass.