Six Rare Tiffany Studios Mosaic Zodiac Panels from Marshall Field & Company, 1914. 16-1/2 x 12-1/4 inches (41.9 ... (Total: 6 Items)

Description

Six Rare Tiffany Studios Mosaic Zodiac Panels from Marshall Field & Company, 1914
16-1/2 x 12-1/4 inches (41.9 x 31.1 cm)

The lot comprising six Tiffany Studios mosaic panels depicting signs of the Zodiac (Aquarius, Libra, Leo, Cancer, and two Capricorns) from the Men's Grill at Marshall Field & Company in Chicago, together with a collection of Tiffany Studios Favrile glass tiles salvaged at the time of removal.

K. Conway and L. Parrott, Tiffany's Glass Mosaics, Corning, NY, 2017, pp. 216-217, fig. 6.37 (for similar example of the Libra panel).

While the majority of Tiffany Studios' mosaic works appeared in ecclesiastical and public spaces, the firm increasingly applied the medium to domestic spaces and luxury wares. The Studios' commissions for Marshall Fields & Co. in Chicago served as the ultimate advertisements for these products in a rapidly expanding consumer market. Occupying an entire city block, and still one of the largest department stores in existence, Marshall Field & Co. (now Macy's) opened in 1907, debuting a 10-story Classical Revival style structure designed by D. H. Burnham & Company and decorated by Tiffany Studios. Over a period of 18 months, a team of 50 men executed the "largest piece of mosaic glass in the world," comprised of more than 1 million glass tesserae painstakingly set across a 6,000 square foot barrel-vaulted ceiling. It features three large ellipses composed of numerous shades of blue Favrile glass - two with leaded glass globe fixtures - framed by structural ribs and surrounded by white scrolling motifs reminiscent of early Christian and Renaissance mosaics.

In 1914, Marshall Field & Co. commissioned Tiffany Studios to appoint the Men's Grill in the newly created Store for Men. The firm contributed a massive 40 x 50 foot leaded glass dome above a lavish central fountain, as well as 64 mosaic panels set into mahogany paneled columns around the perimeter. These panels, six of which are presented here, depict signs of the zodiac, an ancient tradition upon which Louis Comfort Tiffany and his firm drew in the production of lamps, desk articles, and more. In the present examples, Aquarius, Libra, Leo, Cancer, and two Capricorns are skillfully executed in Favrile glass, with the symbols composed of subtly striated and mottled opaque glass and set against a highly iridescent ground of greens, blues, and purples.





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