Column

Louis C. Tiffany

1905 · Mosaic, plaster, glass, and iron · The American Wing

Inspired by Byzantine mosaics, this column is sheathed top to bottom in iridescent glass tesserae, ranging in color from a brilliant peacock blue at the top to deeper blues in the middle and shading almost imperceptibly to a deep midnight blue, almost black, at the base. Two such columns flanked a hanging curtain of shimmering fabric that served as a room divider in Tiffany’s Manhattan showrooms. Certain details, including the gold and silver scrollwork of the capitals, the diapered fringe, and the long gold tassels suspended from twisted cords, replicate in glass the decoration and embellishment of the fabric. The columns were later installed in the studio building at Laurelton Hall, Tiffany’s country home in Oyster Bay, Long Island.

Artist

Louis C. Tiffany

Date

1905

Medium

Mosaic, plaster, glass, and iron

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Purchase, The Edgar J. Kaufmann Foundation Gift, 1968