Three-Handled Cup

c. 1910–20

Three-Handled Cup, c. 1910–20. Tiffany Studios (American, New York, 1902–1932). Favrile glass; diameter: 15.3 cm (6 in.); overall: 19.7 x 19.7 cm (7 3/4 x 7 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Robert I. Gale, Jr., Mrs. Caroline Macnaughton and Fred R. White, Jr. 1962.424 When Louis Comfort Tiffany began collaborating with glass artists on new types of production, his aesthetic ambitions were finally realized in the development of Favrile glass, a term he created to imply “handmade.” Largely through his marketing ability, Favrile glass became America’s greatest contribution to the Art Nouveau style. His works were exhibited at international expositions; at galleries in major European cities, where his creations were bought by many museums; and in his store in Manhattan, known as the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Co., later Tiffany Studios. From the outset, Tiffany used Favrile glass in mosaic panels, stained glass windows, and his artistic line of table and floor lamps. Introducing various chemicals into the molten glass within the furnace produced multicolored iridescence on the surface when this vase was blown and cooled.