Tiffany Studios

Mr. Charles Starrett, Baltimore, MD
Mrs. Harry F. Boan, Baltimore, MD, ca. 1925
Thence by descent

Marilynn Johnson, et al., 19th Century America: Furniture and other Decorative Arts, New York, 1970, pl. 269
Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, et al., Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection, New York, 1993, p. 123 (for a related peacock vase with an O prefix from the Havemeyer bequest to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Marilynn A. Johnson, Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist for the Ages, London, 2005, p. 178 ( for a closely related peacock vase with an O prefix in the collection of the Cooper-Hewett National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, New York)
Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, et al., Louis Comfort Tiffany and Laurelton Hall: An Artist's Country Estate, New York, 2006, p. 117 (for a related ovoid peacock vase with an O prefix in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Very good overall condition. Some small scattered transparent surface spots to the foot. There are five small shallow surface cracks visible around the paper label to the pontil and are largely concealed by it. Some of the cracks may be connected under the label which has not been removed. The cracks are stable and confined to the pontil and appear to be inherent in the making and do not detract from the overall appearance of this exceedingly rare example of favrile glass. Fine and brilliant stretch to the fanned rims.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Charles Starrett, the original owner of this vase, was president of the Union Shipbuilding Company of Baltimore, Maryland.  Mr. Starrett presented the vase as a gift to the wife of his esteemed colleague, Mr. Harry F. Boan, in 1925.

This exquisite and rarified object was created during Louis Comfort Tiffany's early period of glass production, a time in which he was focused on capturing the subtle colors and forms of nature.  The earliest documented example of this vase form is part of the Havemeyer bequest to The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Louisine and Henry O. Havemeyer were among the earliest collectors of Tiffany glass from the moment of its introduction in 1893.  Their bequest to the museum was made a mere three years later in 1896, thus establishing a concise date range for their objects.  The Havemeyer peacock vase is numbered O1600 and the present lot is within 1500 numbers at O3030 which would suggest a relative closeness in production.  The O prefix has been the subject of much debate with some attributing it to special orders.   This is not known with any certainty, but it does however appear on quite a number of vases with peacock decoration.  Like many artists of the period, Tiffany became captivated with the subject of the peacock and sought to capture its very essence in his glass.  This pursuit is best captured in Siegfried Bing's introduction to Tiffany's exhibition held at the Grafton Galleries, London in 1899:

"[Tiffany] at the instance of an amateur friend, sought to produce in colored glass the peacock in all the glory of his plumage, he saw in this motif a theme admirably adapted to enable him to display his skill in glass blowing—the peacock's feather.  For a whole year he pursued his studies with feverish activity, and when at last a large group of vases has been completed embodying this ideal adornment, no two of which were alike, the result was a dazzling revelation. Just as in the natural feather itself, we find here a suggestion of the impalpable, the tenuity of the fronds and their pliability—all this intimately incorporated with the textures of the substance which serves as background for the ornament.   Never, perhaps, has any man carried to greater perfection the art of faithfully rendering Nature in her most seductive aspects, while subjecting her with so much sagacity to the wholesome canons of decoration.  And, on the other hand, this power which the artist possess of assigning in advance to each morsel of glass, whatever its color or chemical composition, the exact place which it is to occupy when the article leaves the glassblower's hand—this truly unique art is combined in these peacocks' feathers with the charm of iridescence which bathes the subtle velvety ornamentation with an almost supernatural light."