In conjunction with its publication of "Tiffany Favrile Pottery and the Quest of Beauty," by Tiffany scholar Dr. Martin Eidelberg, Lillian Nassau LLC has opened a groundbreaking exhibition and sale of Tiffany Pottery, made between 1903 and 1917. This pottery is extremely rare, yet Arlie Sulka, the proprietor of the gallery, has managed to gather some sixty superb examples. Forty-five pieces are for sale, and fifteen are lent by nine private collectors.   Not surprisingly, many of these borrowed works had originally come from the Nassau gallery.

Many of the ceramics on display are highly organic and take the forms of plants:  water lilies, ferns, jack-in-the-pulpits, grapes, and even cabbage.  Others, undecorated, take simple forms based on Chinese and Japanese traditions.  But all are glazed with rich, interesting colors.  As might be expected, the prices for the pottery being sold vary greatly—from $750 for the simplest, unglazed pieces to high five figures for the most elaborate.

The new, 104-page book, is the second publication which Dr. Eidelberg has written and Ms. Sulka has published (the first is on Tiffany Favrile Glass). It is generously illustrated with over 75 illustrations in full color and some fifty, chiefly archival photos, as well as a shape book recording almost 300 different models which Tiffany Studios produced. The text reveals many previously unknown facts and narrates a new chapter in the history of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s artistic empire.

Dr. Eidelberg, who has researched and published on the subject of Tiffany pottery since the 1960s, admits that only in the last decade has the true history of Tiffany’s ceramics has come to the light.  The recent discoveries of archival material and formulas left by Arthur J. Nash, the scientist responsible for Tiffany’s glass, have been invaluable.  Also, the uncovering of years of letters written by Clara Driscoll, the person who designed most of Tiffany’s leaded glass shades, provided valuable clues.  But it also took a great deal of sleuthing, taking Eidelberg from the archives of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the wealth of material in the Morse Museum in Winter Park, Florida.  As he explains, “There were clues that material might be there but I was overwhelmed by the extent of what I found.  It was more rewarding than I could ever have imagined."  Most exciting of all, however, was a trip to Copenhagen where he found the personal diaries and letters of Edith Lautrup, the woman who was the first manager of the Tiffany pottery. 

This is the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Lillian Nassau Gallery, the oldest and most celebrated New York business dealing in Art Nouveau and works by Tiffany Studios and Louis C. Tiffany.  Commenting on the exhibition and book, Ms. Sulka, who is also known for her frequent appearances on PBS' Antiques Roadshow, said, “As a gallery owner, I find it very gratifying to be able to combine commerce with scholarship.  My sponsorship of Dr. Eidelberg’s books is something of which I am extremely proud. I hope that Tiffany enthusiasts and pottery collectors alike will visit the gallery to see this unprecedented exhibition.”

The exhibition will remain on view until January 31st. 

Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday, 10AM-5PM and Saturday, 10:30AM-5PM

220 East 57th Street, New York, New York 10022

Telephone: 212 759-6062

Information: www.lilliannassau.com