Tiffany & Co.

Overall very good condition. The vase with a with some minor losses throughout the upper register within the white enamel of the blossoms and along the scalloped aperture. Transparent lacquer has been sensitively applied to some of these areas at some point in the history of the piece. The green enamel with a small loss on one of the leaves measuring approximately ½ inch high. The vase with some light surface soiling throughout. When viewed in person, the selectively applied green and white enamel contrasts beautifully with the patinated silver surface, imparting the piece with a wonderful dynamism and sense of pictorial depth. The sculptural quality of the vase is further heightened by pale yellow accents within the white enamel of the tulips, which give the blossoms a sense of dimensionality. A rare and delicate work by Tiffany & Co., with exquisit] design work and a highly elegant form.
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.

This vase is remarkable for its suave shape: rising from a narrow base, gently expanding, then waisted, and finally swelling out like the tulips that adorn the top.  Its graceful elegance speaks the form language of 1900.  So too, the overall theme of the tulip plants which literally cover the entire surface.  Because of the vase’s impressed hallmarks, especially the “C” signifying that it was made under the presidency of Charles T.  Cooke, we know that it was executed between 1902 and 1907.

Other examples of this design exist but they do not have this vase’s chief appeal: the enameling.  This additional color is an unexpected feature in the work of Tiffany & Co.  Although they embellished their wares with gilding and inlays of mixed metals, they rarely used enamel.  Or so it might at first seem.  But, as we might expect from any such large establishment, there was an enameling department.  It was responsible for the beautiful orchid brooches that the firm showed in Paris in 1889, the colorful accents on some of their Saracenic wares, and scent bottles that they showed in Paris in 1900.  But perhaps the closest analogy, although not in scale, is the monumental Magnolia vase made for the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, where a frieze of pink-tinged white magnolias encircle the vase. 

—Martin Eidelberg