Art Nouveau Glassworks
Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company, Vase. Ca. 1896-1902, blown and crimped Favrile glass. Gift of Miss Margaret Walbank, Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, 1975.24.
Tiffany Studios, Salt Cellar. 1904, blown iridescent Favrile glass. Gift of Miss Margaret Walbank, Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, 1975.25.
Émile Gallé, Vase. Ca. 1900, cased cameo-cut and acid-etched colored glass. Gift of Miss Margaret Walbank, Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, 1975.22.
Glasfabrik Johann Loetz Witwe, Vase. Ca. 1900, cased blown iridescent colored glass. Gift of Dennis Adrian, A.B., ‘57 in honor of Professor Edward A. Maser, Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, 1980.41.
The curling leaves, twisted buds, and organic folds of these glass vessels exemplify the turn-of-the-century fascination with floral forms, which saw decorative artists—many of whom also practiced as amateur botanists—turn to nature for aesthetic inspiration. From the naturalism of Émile Gallé’s moss-green vase, acid-etched with leaves and blossoms that seem to grow from its base; to the abstraction of the Loetz Witwe vase, which reduces floral forms to symbolic silhouettes; to the animated organicism of Tiffany’s crimped Favrile glass; the vases bridge natural and artistic beauty. In addition to functioning as containers for cut flowers and a vessel for salt, these iridescent glasses resemble plants and crustaceans themselves, bringing the natural world into the home through both form and function.
— Octavia Zhou