Jack-in-the-pulpit Vase

Inspired by the iridescent surfaces of excavated Roman and Syrian glass, Louis C. Tiffany’s Favrile glass was first exhibited at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, and patented the following year. Unlike the painted iridescent glass techniques of earlier days, Favrile glass was created through the treatment of molten glass with metallic oxides, resulting in the appearance of lustrous hues of variegated colour within the glass itself. Named after a small American woodland flower, the Jack-in-the-pulpit vase sits on a flattened globular base from which arises a slender stalk topped with a delicately ruffled blossom. Tiffany’s travels to the Near East and North Africa, and his interest in Persian glass is reflected in the novel forms and rich colours characteristic of his work. The Persian swan-neck bottle was a particular source of inspiration, and its distinctly floral character may have inspired the glassmaker to recreate floral forms in glass.