Tiffany Studios New York "Chinese Pattern" Picture Frame

$4,500
This rare Tiffany Studios "Chinese Pattern" frame features a stylized taotie mask along the top and side borders. A motif derived from ancient Chinese ritual bronzes, the taotie is an enigmatic animal mask characterized by prominent horns, crests, and abstracted features suggesting eyes, legs, tails, and quills. The lower border presents an intriguing example of nineteenth-century artistic syncretism, combining Chinese ornament conventions with the ancient Egyptian motif of the winged solar disk. Here, the solar disk is flanked by wings composed of stylized flame forms and accompanied by a uraeus—the protective cobra traditionally associated with divine kingship. The remaining negative space is filled with geometric fret patterns, echoing the decorative grounds found on ancient Chinese bronze vessels.
Category: Chinese Influence Gifts under $10,000 Metalwork New Acquisitions Photo Frames Tiffany Objects
Product Details

Item #: T-22505
Artist: Tiffany Studios New York
Country: United States
Circa: 1910
Dimensions: 8.75" height, 6.75" width.
Materials: Gilt Bronze
Signed: Tiffany Studios New York 1761
Literature: Holland, WIlliam. TIffany Desk Sets. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., PA. 2008. p.137, fig.8-15. Kemeny, George & Miller, Donald. Tiffany Desk Treasures: A Collectors Guide. Hudson Hills Press, NY. 2001. pps.61-64.

Item #: T-22505
Artist: Tiffany Studios New York
Country: United States
Circa: 1910
Dimensions: 8.75" height, 6.75" width.
Materials: Gilt Bronze
Signed: Tiffany Studios New York 1761
Literature: Holland, WIlliam. TIffany Desk Sets. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., PA. 2008. p.137, fig.8-15. Kemeny, George & Miller, Donald. Tiffany Desk Treasures: A Collectors Guide. Hudson Hills Press, NY. 2001. pps.61-64.

Curator's Notes
Owing to the 1911 fall of the Qing dynasty, a flood of Chinese artifacts with spurious Imperial provenances entered the dealer market. This tumultuous event created both opportunity and appetite for Chinese art in the western art world. As part of his Chinese art collection, Tiffany acquired a silk painting album of Zhou dynasty bronzes, namely “incense burners…sacrificial vessels...and rubbings of the incised inscriptions.” Despite their morbid name, sacrificial vessels were innocuously used as serving dishes for ancestral food and drink offerings.
Owing to the 1911 fall of the Qing dynasty, a flood of Chinese artifacts with spurious Imperial provenances entered the dealer market. This tumultuous event created both opportunity and appetite for Chinese art in the western art world. As part of his Chinese art collection, Tiffany acquired a silk painting album of Zhou dynasty bronzes, namely “incense burners…sacrificial vessels...and rubbings of the incised inscriptions.” Despite their morbid name, sacrificial vessels were innocuously used as serving dishes for ancestral food and drink offerings.
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