Tiffany Glass ¦ Joseph Briggs and Accrington England
Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 10:43 am
Was doing some research on the Art Nouveau Period ¦ in particular Tiffany glass ¦ when I came upon the following very interesting facts ¦ well interesting to me and maybe to others who are keen on Art glass ¦ for anyone not familiar with the magnificence that is Tiffany glass ¦ keep a look out for a thread I will be posting on Art Nouveau ¦
Found out to my surprise that the largest collection of Tiffany glass outside of the United States is not as you might imagine in London or Paris or Rome or Vienna ¦ but in the small Lancashire town of Accrington in the north west of England ¦
A certain Mr Joseph Briggs originally from Accrington was Louis Comfort Tiffany’s right hand man for 43 years ¦ and urban legend has it that on Tiffany’s death the entire stock of glass and other art valued at about $600,000 ¦ a lot of money then and like kings ransom now was given to Briggs as a gift ¦ more than likely he was probably given the unsold stock to sell ¦ in any event Joseph Briggs had over the years assembled his own collection of Tiffany Art glass ¦
In 1933 a few years before his death Briggs returned to England ¦ he gave half his Tiffany collection to relatives and friends and then presented the remainder totalling 120 pieces ¦ including 67 high quality vases ¦ 45 tiles and 8 mosaics to the Corporation of Accrington ¦ the collection was later transferred to the Haworth Art Gallery ¦
In the 1940’s the curator of this gallery had the Tiffany collection valued for insurance purposes at 1500 pounds in total including a stunning multi-coloured opaque glass mosaic of 2 cockatiels at 150 pounds ¦
Today that cockatiel alone is worth in excess of 250,000 pounds and in March 1985 a “magnolia glass and bronze floor lamp by Louis Comfort Tiffany fetched the outstanding price of $528,000 in Christies New York rooms!!
Found out to my surprise that the largest collection of Tiffany glass outside of the United States is not as you might imagine in London or Paris or Rome or Vienna ¦ but in the small Lancashire town of Accrington in the north west of England ¦
A certain Mr Joseph Briggs originally from Accrington was Louis Comfort Tiffany’s right hand man for 43 years ¦ and urban legend has it that on Tiffany’s death the entire stock of glass and other art valued at about $600,000 ¦ a lot of money then and like kings ransom now was given to Briggs as a gift ¦ more than likely he was probably given the unsold stock to sell ¦ in any event Joseph Briggs had over the years assembled his own collection of Tiffany Art glass ¦
In 1933 a few years before his death Briggs returned to England ¦ he gave half his Tiffany collection to relatives and friends and then presented the remainder totalling 120 pieces ¦ including 67 high quality vases ¦ 45 tiles and 8 mosaics to the Corporation of Accrington ¦ the collection was later transferred to the Haworth Art Gallery ¦
In the 1940’s the curator of this gallery had the Tiffany collection valued for insurance purposes at 1500 pounds in total including a stunning multi-coloured opaque glass mosaic of 2 cockatiels at 150 pounds ¦
Today that cockatiel alone is worth in excess of 250,000 pounds and in March 1985 a “magnolia glass and bronze floor lamp by Louis Comfort Tiffany fetched the outstanding price of $528,000 in Christies New York rooms!!