Tiffany Exhibit at Nevada Museum of Art

Tiffany Exhibit at Nevada Museum of Art

               Tiffany, a name synonymous with fine jewelry and luxury goods displays a fine three part exhibit at the Nevada Museum of Art. The exhibit delivers what one might expect from Tiffany, like their famous stained glass lamps, and a few things that one might not expect as well, such as an incredible gun and sword exhibit that offers a close up look at some of the finest crafted guns and swords in the world. The third part of the exhibit offers a close up look at 7 stained glass windows, titled “In Company With Angels” that were originally installed at the Church of the New Jerusalem in Cincinnati, Ohio.

               Not being familiar with the diversity of products crafted by Tiffany only adds to the surprise of discovering the pure artistic range a company so synonymous with luxury really has. First, Tiffany features 20 lamps manufactured in the early 20^th century by Tiffany Studios, Handel, Durand, and Duffner & Kimberly. The exhibition focuses on the Art Nouveau style and its inspiration drawn from nature. The exhibition also focuses on Tiffany’s intricate copper foil production process used for the creation of these glass lamps, exploring bright colorful glass lamp shades accompanied by full, decorative metal bases.

               Second, the “In Company With Angels” exhibit displays seven stained glass panels of angelic characters of “The Book of Revelations”. These panels are extremely tall and have a presence that demands a second or third look at the intricate use of multi-layered, multi colored glasses and paints. The faces of the angels are simplistic in design but powerful in expression, and the use of backlighting made these panels come to life and seem to float right in front of the viewer.   The church from which these panels come from was taken by eminent domain and demolished for highway construction in 1964. The panel windows were boxed up and stored in various sites for decades until their re-discovery in 2001.

Third, and personally most impressive, is Tiffany’s display of various decorative firearms and swords from the 19^th and 20^th century. Founded in 1837 by Charles Lewis Tiffany, what became Tiffany & Co. commenced business just one year after Samuel Colt registered his designs for revolving pistols and long arms with the U.S. Patent Office. Since then, the paths of Tiffany & Co. and Colt have crossed many times along with other firearm designs from Henry Deringer, Winchester, and Smith & Wesson. The Robert M. Lee Collection is recognized as the finest selection of Tiffany & Co. arms privately owned. The collection of items in this exhibition  include three revolvers, four pistols, one rifle, and one presentation sword; these items are rivaled only by those on display in the Robert M. Lee Gallery of American Arms, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The overall craftsmanship in this exhibit is incredibly impressive; the finest attention to decorative detail and form makes it hard for eyes to look away. The exhibit is like an open American history book, a look back to a time when important, powerful men were awarded and gifted with important, powerful symbols of their accomplishments.

Tiffany & Co. delivers a fantastic 3 part exhibit that impresses and stuns, leaving no doubt that Tiffany & Co only creates and displays the finest quality luxury goods in the world.