Online Teacher Resource for
Tiffany Glass: A Passion for Colour

Preparing for your visit

The exhibition Tiffany Glass: A Passion for Colour, as its name indicates, introduces the visitors to creations in glass by Louis Comfort Tiffany and his team. Stained glass windows, vases, lamps and decorative art objects bear witness to the richness and diversity of Tiffany’s work. This magnificent exhibition is a golden opportunity to introduce young people to the creation of art glass and stained glass and some concepts in art history, including the distinction between the decorative and fine arts.

1.  GLASS IN DAILY LIFE

The following objects are all from the collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
What do they have in common?

Answer:
They are all made of glass! The use of glass to make utilitarian and decorative objects dates back to 2000 B.C. Even today, glass is used in the manufacture of a multitude of objects from daily life, from lenses for eyeglasses to dishes and windows. Glass can also be used to create works of art, as seen in the many objects in the Museum’s collection.

EGYPT Ptolemaic period (332 30 B.C.), Necklace, Glass, 53 cm (l.), MMFA, gift of Harry A. Norton		FRANCE Gothic, The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, About 1275, Stained glass, 37.5 x 34.9 cm, MMFA, gift of Miss Mabel Molson
Attributed to Verrerie royale d’Orléans, Orléans, France, founded 1662, Surprise Jug, About 1700, Glass, 21.4 x 13.5 x 9.9 cm, MMFA, purchase, Decorative Arts Acquisition Fund		Judith Schaechter (born in 1961), Up on the Highwire, 1997, Glass, paint, vitreous paint, copper, zinc, 55.9 x 58.4 cm, MMFA, gift, Anna and Joe Mendel Collection

Although glass is found in nature (volcanic glass, for example), mastering the technique of glass-making was very important in the history of humanity. The first functional objects made of glass were made in Egypt approximately 4,000 years ago. To make glass, the craftsman needs three ingredients: sand (silica), soda and lime. These three ingredients must be heated at very high temperatures to make them molten. They may then be worked and given different shapes. Other elements may also be integrated to the molten glass to colour it: sulphur, for example, makes glass yellow, while ferrous oxide makes it green. There are many advantages to using glass: it is recyclable, multipurpose and does not conduct electricity (that is why it is used to make light bulbs). However, glass is fragile, brittle and difficult to manipulate. Glass can be formed into objects using a variety of techniques, such as moulding and blowing, as seen in these two objects.

EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN Classical period, Aryballos, Late 6th 5th c. B.C., Core formed glass, combed decoration, 6.4 cm (h.), 5 cm (diam.), MMFA, gift of Harry A. Norton		Vicke Lindstrand (1904-1983), Vase (model LH 1181), About 1953, Blown glass, Produced by Kosta Glasbruk, 28.2 x 16.7 x 8 cm, MMFA, Liliane and David M. Stewart Collection, gift of the American Friends of Canada through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. I. Wistar Morris III

Molten glass can be poured into a mould to obtain a variety of shapes: this is called moulded glass. In Roman times, a mould was made of damp sand fashioned around an iron rod. Once the shape was moulded, glass filaments were applied to create decorative motifs. Here, the artist used a comb to create a zigzag motif after applying the filaments. Once the vase was finished, the handles were added. This type of vase is called an aryballos. It was invented in Ancient Greece, where it was used to hold perfumed oils to tend injured athletes.

Today, glass-blowing is a technique that is used primarily by craftsmen and industries to create objects. This technique was perfected over 2,000 years ago (50 B.C.) by the Phoenicians and the Syrians. The major advantage of this technique is that it reduces production time for objects, a fact that helped make glass more accessible to the general population.

Glass-blowers use a blowpipe (or blow tube) to take a small amount of molten glass (the parison) out of the crucicle in the furnace. This is called the gathering. Then, the craftsman tolls the glass back and forth on a flat surface called a marver, which is usually made of metal. At the same time, he blows into the blowpipe and turns it to obtain the desired shape from the glass, to which he later puts the finishing touches with various tools, like tongs. The glass can also be blown into a mould in order to obtain a specific shape: this is called mould-blown glass. To change the shape of glass, it must be hot. That is why the glass-blower must work quickly and return the piece back to the oven regularly to obtain the desired shape. He detaches the glass shape from the blowpipe using a steel bar called a punty and then places it in the lehr, or annealer, to cool it. This oven maintains a constant temperature and is specially designed to cool the pieces of glass gradually and thus help conserve their shape.



ACTIVITY:
With your students, draw up a list of glass objects they use in their daily lives.
Ask them to bring in an object that they think is made of glass. Compare the objects.

— Which are objects for daily use?
— Which are decorative objects?
— Which are both utilitarian and decorative?
— Compare their appearance, texture, colour, transparency: were they all made the same way?

 

2. LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY: A MASTER OF THE DECORATIVE ARTS

Although Tiffany’s name is associated today with a particular style of lamp, with a shade made of stained glass, we must not forget that he was an avant-garde designer who was active in various fields. In the late 1800s, after he had achieved a certain degree of success as a painter, Louis Comfort Tiffany decided to become an interior decorator. He later led a dazzling career in the decorative arts, where he explored a variety of mediums, such as metal and glass, to obtain all kinds of original effects. During his career, he created and supervised the production of a multitude of objects, from lamps to stained glass windows, jewellery, vases and other small decorative art objects.

Louis C. Tiffany (1848-1933), Vase with Peacock-feather Decoration, About 1898-1899, Blown glass, Norfolk, Virginia, Chrysler Museum of Art, , gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Photo Chrysler Museum of Art		Louis C. Tiffany (1848-1933), Table Lamp with Pebble Shade, About 1898-1902, Pebbles, leaded glass, bronze, Richmond, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Sydney and Frances Lewis Collection, Photo Katherine Wetzel © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

The exhibition Tiffany Glass brings together a host of different objects, all of which fall under the umbrella of decorative arts. It is a good way to introduce young people to the differences between the fine and decorative arts. The fine arts generally include painting, sculpture, drawing and printmaking, that is, works that are not utilitarian. On the contrary, the decorative arts designate objects that are both useful and beautiful: that is the case, for example, of Tiffany lamps, which serve both to illuminate a room and to brighten it up.


ACTIVITY:
To help children understand the distinction between the two categories, explore the section of our Web site that describes the Museum’s collection. You will find objects belonging to the categories of decorative and fine arts. Print up a selection of the reproductions and distribute an "object" to each student. Ask the students to classify the objects by putting them in two separate piles and then justifying their choices. Remember that the distinction is often difficult, or even impossible to make, so all the answers that they are able to justify can be right!

 

3.  THE ART OF STAINED GLASS

The exhibition focusses especially on Tiffany’s stained glass windows. The exhibition provides an opportunity to introduce young people to stained glass. We call "stained glass" any object composed of pieces of glass soldered together with metal bands (usually lead or copper). The term "stained glass" applies to full windows but also to objects made using this technique, like Tiffany lamps. Here is an example of stained glass from the Museum’s collection.

There are several steps involved in the creation of a stained glass window. First, a design must be created for the stained glass artist to follow. During the exhibition, you will have the opportunity to see several preparatory drawings and sketches that were used to create various objects. They resemble veritable jigsaw puzzles, where each piece is essential to the final result. The craftsman must cut each of the pieces depicted on the maquette with precision. These pieces are assembled with bands of lead, which the craftsman solders together. The cooled lead solidifies the assemblage of glass pieces.

William Morris (1834-1896), Minstrel Angel, 1882, Coloured and painted glass, lead, Produced by William Morris and Company, 64.7 x 78.7 cm, MMFA, gift of the family of David A. P. Watt

ACTIVITY:
With your students, draw up a list of the places where stained glass is often found. Discuss the uses of stained glass with them: are stained glass windows only used to decorate or can they be used to tell a story? Use examples to illustrate the basic concepts of art history. Refer to the the online resource on the language of art . Explore your neighbourhood to find stained glass windows in houses, churches or institutional buildings.

Follow-up activities