stained glass

If you have been reading my past few blogs, you’ll know that I recently had the great pleasure of viewing the Artistic Luxury Exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Featuring Faberge, Lalique and Tiffany, it was a rare opportunity for anyone into antiques, glassware or artistic finery. I covered Faberge and Lalique and now turn to other masterpieces, those of the “two Tiffanys.”

Stained glass lamps and windows have been associated with the artisans of Tiffany for as long as we can remember. Pieces such as this absolutely fantastic Autumn Leaf Globe Lamp is just one example! I am sure many people think of Tiffany & Co. as a ’solitary’ company. Not so. Tiffany & Co. was actually the creation of Charles Lewis Tiffany, while his son, Louis Comfort Tiffany, owned Tiffany Glass & Decorating Co. Although they were run separately, Louis Comfort often did design work for Tiffany & Co. Both companies displayed their wares at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris to rave reviews. The Shah of Persia appointed Tiffany & Co. to be “Gold and Silversmiths to His Imperial Majesty.” There were, however, critics of their “showy displays”, one reviewer saying “every piece has only one meaning: to appear as concentrated money.” Well, duh! These were incredible works of art, appealing to many; afforded by only a few.

Tiffany & Co. employed craftsmen skilled in metalsmithing and the lapidary arts. Necklaces, tiaras, brooches, corsage ornaments, just about anything that could be adorned with precious jewels, was produced. The firm was known for its stock of rare yellow diamonds, often procured by their gemologist, George Frederick Kunz. He became a celebrity explorer of his day, procuring rare mineral specimens and gemstones for Tiffany & Co. and private and institutional collectors. He actually has a mineral named after him, kunzite, which was used in some of his pieces of jewelry. This ring is in a gold filigree setting, paired with emeralds and designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany.

One of the most audacious examples of Tiffany & Co.’s jewelry is this fabulous diamond necklace made for Ellen Garretson Wade. Not being familiar with the name “Wade” is only because I am not a history buff, nor from Cleveland, Ohio. Mrs. Wade’s husband was Jeptha Homer Wade II, named for a grandfather who had founded the Western Union Telegraph Co. in 1856. They were knowledgeable and sophisticated collectors who traveled extensively, often engaging Tiffany to mount the gems they purchased along the way. They were also clients of Louis Tiffany’s firm, Tiffany Studios, and commissioned two mosaic walls and an important stained glass window for the burial vault of Mr. Wade’s grandfather. The Wade family history is a fascinating story in itself, one you might want to check out.

This coffee set was made by Paulding Farnham, who collaborated with Louis Comfort Tiffany in presenting a series of scent bottles at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Farnham was well known for his designs in exotic motifs. This set, was in the Moorish taste of silver gilt, enhanced with elaborate enameling and cabochon amethysts. Amazingly enough, the set survived in its original case with a calling card, revealing it was sold from the Paris Showroom of Tiffany & Co. to a client in Monte Carlo! How would you like to serve your best guests with this set?

Anyone who watched the Oscars this year can tell that we are in a time of ‘understated elegance.’ The ladies wore long, classic gowns and often little, or at least not noteworthy, jewelry. It is understandable in these times of economic strife, but I am sure if I had a piece of jewelry by Tiffany, I’d have a difficult time keeping it in a box or bank vault. Their pieces were meant to sparkle and shine!

Thank you once again to the staff of the Cleveland Museum of Art! They made our visit very pleasurable and a once-in-a-lifetime experience. (The Artistic Luxury Exhibition is currently at the San Francisco Fine Arts Museum Legion of Honor, until May 31^st. If you get the chance, be sure to visit!)

Was it only a week ago I was spending all of my days at the Radisson Hotel here in Fargo for the MPMA’s Annual Conference? Really? Time’s a funny thing — it flies by and you try to absorb all you can, and then it’s time to remember everything and you’re left thinking, “Was that only a week ago?” Or maybe I’m just getting older. (Thank goodness I took great notes, and have a slew of contacts to follow-up with for weeks — months? a lifetime? — to come.)

Once the conference ended on Friday, no longer were hubby and I journalists covering the antiques and collectibles beat but we’d resumed our (ab)normal identities as individual collectors and so bright & early Saturday morning we ‘found’ ourselves at a farm auction.

Every auction it’s the same thing. We tell ourselves we’re not going to get anything, that we’re just going for the educational value (to see what’s there, what the market will bear, etc.) but somehow the paddles always end up high in the sky. That’s how we ended up with that stained glass window from a 100 year old church, boxes of church china, and numerous other items. This past Saturday was no exception.

Now you might think I’m winding up to tell you how ‘we’ ended up with a large bucket of metal weights you put on the horns of bulls (cut ‘em, cover ‘em and not only are there no more points to deal with, but the weights make the horns curve downward). We got them; but I’m not going to talk about that. Instead, what I’m going to tell you about is how hubby and I ended up with at least a quarter of a trailer’s worth of boxes for just $2 — bringing our entire auction damages total to $27 (and for some perspective, our winnings filled the entire van — a conversion van, no less).

More specifically, I’m going to tell you how others at the auction reacted.

As soon as we won, the auction team thanked us for taking so much junk off their hands. “Thank you! I’ll buy you guys lunch!” they said as they scurried off to the next trailer load.

I stayed with the winnings while Derek went to get the van — not just because I’m ‘the girl’ but because someone had to slap hands. (There were a lot of hands, even after I told them several times this was not for sale.) And as it turns out, I also stayed behind to deal with the gawkers & talkers.

Several ladies walked up, one by one, to ask why we bought all those boxes.

“Do you have a store?”

“What are you going to do with all of those old crafting magazines?”

And my favorite, “You don’t have a compact car, do you, dear?”

With all the individuals shooting questions at me I now had to defend myself, my actions, my purchases.

I also realized that Derek and I were quite the entertainment for many of the folks. Sitting in their lawn chairs they talked about us like we were on TV and couldn’t hear them.

“Boy, he sure is making a lot of trips with those boxes.”

“Yah, sure, you bettcha! They bought most of that trailer full, doncha know.”

“What are they going to do with all them boxes?”

“I wonder how many magazines that is?”

To them, our purchase was very large — ridiculously large.

I, in fact, had no idea how many items we’d purchased. While I have marvelous visual spatial skills (I can determine what piece of furniture will fit in what space and pack a car full of odd shaped items far better than my husband), I’d not even considered what the number of individual objects were… At this point all I knew was with a van packed for just $27 each item cost just a few pennies. That was cool.

But then it occurred to me: Just how many objects do I own?

Flash back to the MPMA conference.

It’s Wednesday, September 12, 2007, and I’m sitting in a conference room for a session called “This Old Collection Storage: Extreme Makeover Edition.” Two museum professionals are giving an overview on major renovations in vault and storage space at their museums.

Included in all the talk of storage units, lighting, HVAC systems for climate control, and fire suppression was data on the cost of the projects broken down by each of the above as well as by the cost of storage supplies such as archival boxes, tissue and ethafoam. Or course, in order for the proper size, type and amount of those supply items to be purchased, museum staff needed exact item counts. The numbers were amazing, so I scribbled some down.

9,542 works on paper
3,750 decorative art pieces
700 pieces of silver

Wow, that’s just one museum. Those numbers are huge, right? I know I don’t have 700 pieces of silver — but after this past Saturday’s auction, what’s my paper count at?

I suddenly feel very nervous…

Why did we buy all those boxes? What are we going to do with it all?

Should we maybe get a compact car?

Or maybe I should just visit a museum or another collector with more items and let that change my perspective.