Summer 2017

2017 Antiques & Fine Art 111 Fig. 8 : Mantel with mosaic fireplace surround, Cleveland, Ohio, 1898–1904. Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company or Tiffany Studios. Glass mosaic; wood with glass mosaic. H. 78½, W. 136 in.; Base: H. 92, D. 34½ in. Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia (82.145, gift of Seymour Stein). Image: Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia. Fig. 9 : Mosaic fireplace surround, Cleveland, Ohio, 1898–1904. Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company or Tiffany Studios. Glass mosaic. H. 52, W. 61, D. 1½ in. Collection of Allen Michaan, Michaan’s Auctions. Image: The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York. glass. The Baltimore Sun indicated the intricate design consisted of sixty-five thousand pieces of glass and took more than a year to fabricate. 3 The New York Times reported it to be “the most important panel that has ever been attempted in this country.” 4 By 1890, mosaic was popular in private dwellings as well as public buildings. Tiffany included glass mosaic in the architectural interiors of his most significant early commissions, such as the White House under President Chester A. Arthur and the residences of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, Henry O. and Louisine Havemeyer, Rober t W. and Emily Johnston de Forest, and Frederick and Ellen Ayer. If one could not afford to outfit an entire home with Tiffany’s glass mosaics, more modest options were also available. Tiffany’s company conducted a robust business in creating glass mosaic fireplace surrounds for private residences. Tiffany promoted their glass mosaics as “non- absorbent, f ireproof, and practically indestructible,” qua lities that were attractive to homeowners concerned with cleanliness and fire safety. In addition, they were a fashionable choice for artistically minded clients. While Tiffany personally favored Orient a l and nat ure-ba sed de sign inf luences, his firm offered a range of styles as seen in the selection of watercolor design sketches, extant mosaic panels, and photographs of interiors on view in the exhibition. Mosaic designs for fireplace surrounds often varied within the same house, corresponding to the style and purpose of a room. Two surviving mantel facings (Figs. 8, 9) from the Howell Hinds (American, 1857–1926) residence in Cleveland, Ohio, illustrate this. In 1899, as the popularity of mosaic decoration was peaking, a reporter made the practical observation that “Every one [ sic ] cannot have mosaic friezes...in their houses, but the materials used in the