A Tale of Two Tiffanys (#1 in a series)

There are names familiar to every collector and scholar of 19th century decorative arts, for example, Herter Brothers, Pottier & Stymus, Candace Wheeler, and John LaFarge. There is, however, but one name familiar at a popular culture level: Tiffany. And while some of that fame admittedly can be attributed to jewelry, little blue boxes, and Holly Golightly's morning repast, the word "Tiffany" is also virtually a synonym for "stained glass."

Two men with the name "Tiffany" worked as decorators in the last quarter of the 19th century: Louis Comfort Tiffany, and Joseph Burr Tiffany.

The career and life of Louis Comfort Tiffany - decorator, designer, artist - are well documented. Born in 1848, he was the eldest son of

Charles Lewis Tiffany, the founder of Tiffany & Company. While attending boarding school, Tiffany studied art with George Inness; at age 18 he rejected the idea of entering the family business and instead became an artist. He spent the next decade traveling, working, and studying as an easel painter and watercolorist. About 1875, however, Tiffany increasingly became interested in glass as an artist medium, and with the creation of domestic interiors, initially for himself and his family. In 1879 Tiffany wrote to Candace Wheeler, "I have been thinking a great deal about decorative work, and am going into it as a profession. I believe there is more in it than in painting pictures." More, indeed! Tiffany's work ranged from stained glass, mosaics, art glass and ceramics, jewelry, enamels, metalwork and furniture, to the execution of "artistic" interiors, both public and private, spanning and transcending the American Aesthetic, American Renaissance and Art Nouveau decorative styles.

Joseph Burr Tiffany, on the other hand, is something of a mystery. A typical modern stating of his CV will read something like: "Joseph Burr Tiffany was a prominent New York interior decorator of the late 19th century, known for decorating many Hudson River mansions and especially for the lavish decorations and stained glass he created for Wilderstein. He was an engineer, educated at Cornell; studied the arts extensively in Europe; and was a cousin of Louis Comfort Tiffany (their fathers were brothers). He also designed some pianos for Steinway & Co."

I would like to examine what is "known" about Joseph Burr Tiffany, and, where possible, make additions and corrections to this meager biography. (to be continued...)

---

Illustration:
Magnolias and Irises, ca. 1908
Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933)
American
Tiffany Studios (1902–1938)
Leaded Favrile-glass window
60 1/4 x 42 in. (153 x 106.7 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Anonymous Gift, in memory of Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Frank, 1981 (1981.159)
www.metmuseum.org