RAPAPORT… Born in 1848, Louis Comfort Tiffany was the son of Charles Lewis Tiffany, the founder of Tiffany & Co. Rather than follow directly in his father’s footsteps, he took a more circuitous route to the family business, choosing to study art and travel through Europe and North Africa — two factors that would influence his work throughout his career. It was only after he had made his mark in glassmaking and decorative arts that he tried his hand at jewelry making, joining the family firm as art director after the death of his father in 1902. Tiffany debuted his distinctive jewelry designs in 1904 at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. He died in 1933 at the age of 84.
Blazing a trail
Compared to the European jewelry makers of that time, especially the French, “Louis Comfort Tiffany jewels are less ethereal and more earthy and organic,” says Janet Levy, principal, J. & S.S. DeYoung Inc. Agrees Daphne Lingon, Senior Vice President, New York Jewelry Department, Christie’s, “His jewelry was so different from what was being produced and sold at that time. Unlike the Edwardian period, which was all about white, Tiffany was all about color, he was all about light and how it’s diffused through a stone — whether it is opaque, so there’s no light, or a fire opal with a beautiful play of color.”
In Louis Comfort Tiffany jewelry, continues Lingon, the two main influences were naturalism and exoticism. “But it was how he interprets those influences that gives the jewelry its distinctive design. For example, he gives a beautiful filigree necklace, evocative of Northern Africa or the Middle East, his own unique spin by incorporating American gemstones. He had such a fresh approach.”
“Louis Comfort Tiffany took his influences of Middle Eastern Arts and Crafts and of Art Nouveau and combined them together to make jewelry,” explains Malcolm Logan, co-owner, Nelson Rarities, Portland, Maine. “His early pieces used a lot of black opals and demantoid garnets and he made them in intricate gold with enamel, as well as moonstone and Montana sapphires.” Later in his career, says Logan, “Tiffany was designing things with a slight Art Deco influence to them. He introduced zircon to his designs, probably in the late twenties as the Deco period swept America. And his things became more geometric.”
Attention to detail
When Tiffany did something, points out Levy, “it was so well thought out beforehand. I am always impressed with the detailed attention to every component, from the overall design conception and theme to the materials and execution of technique and the integration of all these components into one aesthetic achievement — it was the whole package.”
Lingon points out that this attention to detail extended to both the front and the back of the piece, giving the jewelry a beautiful completion. “If you turn over one of his pieces — and this is really the beauty of his work — you can see that he has finished everything on that piece of jewelry, from the clasp to the back of the clasp. No one is going to see the back of the piece but it represents a dialogue between him and the wearer.”
A Palette of Gemstones
Tiffany carefully paired the gemstones and metals he used with a painter’s deft sense of color. “A brooch with a center colored stone will be complemented by contrasting colors of smaller stones and enamel, then set in a textured and naturalistic finish of gold,” says Levy. “Louis Comfort Tiffany would mix diamonds, sapphires and rubies in innovative color combinations with opals, zircons, moonstones and other less valuable stones. We had a fabulous scarab ruby necklace of his where he picked up the ruby accents in the chain and in the enameling…it was a wonderful marriage of materials.”
Lingon agrees that each gemstone was carefully chosen as part of his artist’s palette in creating the designs. “A lot of time you’ll see a blue-green play of color in an opal representing peacock feathers, which in turn represents immortality in Eastern cultures. And then you’ll also see he created that blue-green combination with different gemstones, such as demantoid garnets and Montana sapphires.” The focus, Lingon says, was not on the quality of the gemstones but on what he wants them to say. “His jewelry is very much along the same lines as his painting and glass. It’s all about color and scenes that are his own particular vision.” And while she recalls a piece with a large yellow diamond that sold at Christie’s, she says you’re not going to see a big white diamond in his jewelry. “He used gemstones of varying qualities. He saw the beauty in a stone that was included or that was very light colored. We sold a necklace here in June of 2010. On the front is a big violet-color sapphire, surrounded by moderately included light colored emerald. It was estimated at $50,000 to $70,000 and sold for $152,500.”
Devoted Collectors
Although it is marked Tiffany, the jewelry designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany was not signed with his name. As a result, says Lingon, people often don’t realize that they have a piece of his jewelry. And while the casual observer, points out Logan, might not recognize his work, those who collect and appreciate his designs, who do know that it was made in his workshop, value it as “a piece of artistic jewelry.”
There’s enough of his work around, continues Logan, “to create a strong market. There’s a huge carryover from his lamps and desk accessories to his jewelry. Many people who first started out collecting his lamps then become enamored with his jewelry as the supply of lamps dwindled on the market.”
Logan says he rarely sees Louis Comfort Tiffany earrings. Rings are next rarest and there aren’t that many bracelets. Mostly, it’s pendant necklaces and brooches that are available. “If a piece has plique-a-jour enamel incorporated into the structure, we would value that much more than something with just gemstones or interesting goldwork. Tiffany used to do a lot of plique-a-jour enamel with moonstones and jade or opal. He loved black opal.”
Because many people don’t know what they have, Lingon says, there is still an “unknown factor” and that pieces are out there still to be discovered, “which is kind of the fun of it. We had someone send us a necklace rolled up in a ball of tissue with a note that said ‘If this is worth something, please contact me.’ We ended up selling it for $18,000 and it was not in good condition.” She also gives an example of a necklace sold in 2006 “that had about a 60-carat purple sapphire. The owner had paid about $15,000 for it. It was a pendant necklace by Louis Comfort. We took it in for $80,000 to $120,000 and it sold for $262,000.”
Levy says it’s getting more difficult to find major pieces and that when they appear in the marketplace, “they are commanding higher and higher prices because they are valued as artwork. These beautiful gems are a pleasure to behold and show us how nature and creativity can be perfectly partnered to achieve a sublime effect.”
