Tiffany Studios Reactive Glass Paperweight

Signed: 4432E L.C. Tiffany Favrile

Height: 4 inches

Width: 4 1/2 inches

This is an exceptional and important example of Tiffany's reactive paperweight glass, one of the rarest and most technically advanced types of blown Favrile glass ever produced at the Corona glasshouse.

This vase is a miracle of glassmaking. The process began with an irregular leaf and vine motif marvered into the initial gather of clear glass, which was then encased under a second transparent layer. What makes this piece extraordinary is that both the decoration and the inner layer were composed of reactive, or heat-sensitive glass. Once the gaffer had finished forming and decorating the piece on the pontil rod, the vase was briefly placed in the furnace's glory hole. The intense heat struck the glass and converted the internal decoration into rich shades of brown, green, and yellow. At the same time, the heat created a swirled translucency to the inner layer that appears a stunning blue-violet in reflected light.

Hold this vase up to a light source and it transforms entirely, the heavy iridescence applied to the interior of the body causes the piece to glow a brilliant red in transmitted light. It is two completely different vases depending on how the light reaches it.

The form is a low, wide bulbous body with a short neck and slightly flared rim — a shape that invites the viewer to look down into it and around it, discovering the internal decoration from every angle. The leaf and vine motifs trail organically across the entire surface, visible through the blue-violet exterior as amber, brown, and green forms suspended within the glass walls.

The "E" suffix in the production number dates this piece to 1910. This vase represents the artistic and technical innovations that defined Tiffany's most advanced glass production, combining the paperweight technique with reactive chemistry in a single, extraordinary object.