thumb|Favrile glass specimens from 1896 to 1902

<!-- Ideally, "Favrile glass" should be used for all glass produced there, and "Tiffany lustred glass" should be used for the lustred glass. However, the article does not necessarily currently follow this standard. -->thumb|Ancient [[Roman glass vase with iridescence caused by weathering]]Favrile glass is a term originally used as a trade name for art glass produced at Tiffany Furnaces, a glassmaking factory owned by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The term is now used to describe the type of iridescent glass Tiffany produced there.

History

thumb|Favrile glass vase, circa 1893–96

Tiffany founded his first glassmaking firm in 1892, which he called the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company. The factory, Tiffany Furnaces, was located in Corona, Queens, New York. It was managed by English immigrant Arthur J. Nash, who was skilled in glassmaking. It was here that Tiffany developed his unique method of glassmaking.

Tiffany developed this new glass with inspiration from ancient glass vessels, including Roman glass and Islamic glass, along with the contemporary work of Émile Gallé. He made the first Favrile objects in 1896. At the 1900 Paris Exposition, Tiffany's Favrile glass won the grand prize in the exposition.

Iridescence mechanism

thumb|[[Arum maculatum|Jack-in-the-pulpit flower form favrile glass vase, circa 1900–1915]]

According to materials scientist Gregory Merkel, favrile glass achieves iridescence in a similar way to Aurene glass. The glass must have silver ions dissolved in it, which form a surface coat of metallic silver when the glass is placed in a chemically reducing environment. The original trade name, Fabrile, was derived from an Old English word, fabrile, meaning "hand-wrought" or handcrafted. Tiffany later changed the word to Favrile, "since this sounded better". Tiffany said "Favrile glass is distinguished by...brilliant or deeply toned colors, usually iridescent like the wings of certain American butterflies, the necks of pigeons and peacocks, the wing covers of various beetles."

Some of the distinguishing colors in Favrile glass include "Gold Lustre," "Samian Red," "Mazarin Blue," "Tel-el-amarna" (or Turquoise Blue), and "Aquamarine".

According to The Huntington, Favrile glass is handmade, and the glassblower mixes different kinds of glass together, before coating the final product in metallic oxides to achieve an iridescent, or color-changing sheen. As a result, favrile glass changes color in different lighting.

According to the Charles Hosmer Museum of Modern Art, the glass made at Tiffany Studios was a kind of opalescent glass or American glass.

Uses

thumb|[[Curtis_Publishing_Company#Curtis_Center_and_Dream_Garden|Dream Garden glass mosaic mural designed by Maxfield Parrish and made by Louis Comfort Tiffany]]

thumb|"Lotus, Pagoda" [[Tiffany lamp shade made with Favrile glass, circa 1900–15]]

Tiffany and collaborators developed the favrile glass technique for stained glass windows and glass mosaics, then used it for many other products, including a variety of blown glass vases. Favrile glass also backs a large ornamental clock in Detroit's Guardian Building.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="150">

File:Vase MET DT219283.jpg|Circa 1893–94

File:Vase MET DT205638.jpg|Circa 1893–96

File:Vase MET DT190.jpg|Circa 1893–96

File:Vase MET DP116228.jpg|Circa 1897

File:Vase MET DP116215.jpg|Circa 1900

File:Vase MET DP131460.jpg|Circa 1900–1902

File:Bowl MET DP116209.jpg|Circa 1908

File:Vase MET DP116216.jpg|Circa 1909

File:Vase MET DP116223.jpg|Circa 1912

</gallery>

Citations

General and cited references

  • Louis Comfort Tiffany and Laurelton Hall: An Artist's Country Estate, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on favrile glass