Tiffany Studios

The present lot was produced for the 1913 Paris Salon.

"As Fresh and Lovely as the Flowers Themselves": The "Apple Blossom" Paperweight Vase

Louis Comfort Tiffany incorporated blossoming apple trees into all aspects of his creations. They were a critical element in the company’s stunning 1899 “Madonna of the Blossoms” made for Arlington Street Church in Boston. Table lamps with leaded glass shades depicting flowering apple trees were created in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Tiffany even designed a brooch in the form of a “spray of apple blossoms, as fresh and lovely as the flowers themselves,” for the 1904 St. Louis Exposition.

Tiffany also made certain that he was constantly reminded of the tree’s splendor. Branches heavy with flowers decorated the studio of his Madison Avenue mansion during special events. He was responsible for the landscaping at Laurelton Hall, his country estate in Oyster Bay, Long Island, and had an orchard of apple trees planted on the property near the mansion. The flowering boughs of these trees were so impressive that they were probably the source of the apple blossom altar Tiffany created for the on-site marriage of his daughter Louise in April 1911.

Tiffany Furnaces incorporated apple blossoms into very few of their blown glass objects. Perhaps the most noteworthy were developed as a result of the introduction of “aquamarine” glass in 1913, of which there are three known examples. While the Paperweight vase offered here is made of the same transparent, green-tinted glass and is approximately the same height, it is noticeably wider than the Aquamarine vases, offering a considerably larger canvas for the gaffer. This allowed him to incorporate grander and more finely detailed sinuous ochre and brown-striated branches outlined in sky blue and with small pendant green leaves. It also permitted for the inclusion of a significantly greater multitude of lovely white flowers with yellow, chartreuse and brick-red millefiori centers.

It is obvious why the company decided to include this piece in its exhibition at the 1913 Paris Salon. In its entirety, the vase is perhaps Tiffany’s finest representation of a flowering apple tree in blown glass.

- PD