Tiffany’s Dazzling Dragonflies

The symbolic insect became a popular motif for European and American jewelers at the turn of the 20th century.

A hair ornament, circa 1904, by Louis C. Tiffany. Gold, silver, platinum, black opals, boulder opals, demantoid garnets, rubies, enamel; 3 1/4 inches. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Courtesy of The Met

Louis Comfort Tiffany’s circa 1904 hair ornament at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a “monumental” masterpiece. Only 3 1/4 inches tall, it depicts two dragonflies alight on dandelion seed balls. The piece’s epic scope derives from its inventive artistry, subject, and materials. Housed in the storied Havemeyer collection, its existence was only known to scholars from archival photographs. The artwork’s fortuitous rediscovery by a Met curator led to its landing at the museum.

A Jeweled Heritage

Tiffany (1848–1933) was a virtuoso in nearly every decorative arts medium. His earliest artistic efforts were as a painter, but today he is best known for leaded-glass windows and floral lampshades. The prevailing themes throughout his oeuvre are nature and the exploration of light and color.

Jewelry was one of the last categories in which Tiffany experimented, though making it ran in his veins. His father was the founder of the famed Tiffany & Co.

Tiffany started designing jewelry in 1902, after his father died. His first forays were exhibited in 1904 at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis; 27 pieces were displayed, including an opal necklace now at The Met.

A necklace, circa 1904, by Louis C. Tiffany. Opals, gold, enamel; 18 inches. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Public Domain

In creating this necklace, as in much of his jewelry, Tiffany eschewed precious gems in favor of semiprecious stones. He chose gemstones for their color and ability to diffuse and transform light rather than for their inherent value. Opals, with their fiery glow, analogous to his patented iridescent Favrile glass, were a particular favorite.

His Art Jewelry department was open from 1907 until his death in 1933. During those years, it created around 5,500 pieces of jewelry.

Another outlet for Tiffany’s creative genius was interior design. One of his legendary projects was the Manhattan home of Louisine and Henry Osborne Havemeyer, great patrons of Tiffany and modern French art. The Gilded Age couple assembled one of the greatest collections of art in America and were generous benefactors of The Met. After Louisine’s death in 1929, the mansion was demolished and many of its interiors were sold at auction. A surviving piece, a peacock mosaic that was placed over the foyer’s large fireplace, is at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. The peacock was one of Tiffany’s classic motifs.

Dragonfly Motif

Another signature subject for Tiffany was the dragonfly. As historian Marion Fasel explains in her book “Beautiful Creatures: Jewelry Inspired by the Animal Kingdom”:

“Dragonfly jewels came into vogue in the West after trade with Japan reopened in 1853. For thousands of years, the insects had been admired by the Japanese as cunning creatures and symbols of summer and autumn. Dragonflies were depicted on many of the nation’s exports, including the decorative objects ... that were seen by millions when they went on display at ... the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris.”

Tiffany attended that world’s fair and was inspired. Different Japanesque elements were incorporated into a range of Tiffany designs. The first dragonfly featured on a Tiffany lampshade was made in 1899.

A peacock mosaic from the entrance hall of the Henry O. Havemeyer house, 1890–1891, by Louis C. Tiffany. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor. Public Domain

Dragonflies were popular creatures for a range of European and American jewelers at the turn of the 20th century. Tiffany’s hair ornament is among the most astounding of these jewels and a highlight of his artistic career. It elevates an ephemeral moment—dragonflies resting on dandelions before taking flight—into a profound meditation on time. The dandelions are not depicted in full bloom, but at the end of their life cycle; one of the puffs has already been partially blown away.

Traditionally, jewelers favored more aesthetically pleasing florals such as the romantic rose and the poetic pansy; dandelions are an atypical plant to capture in a jewel. The choice reflects Tiffany’s appreciation of the beauty of a common weed.

A hair ornament, circa 1904, by Louis C. Tiffany. Gold, silver, platinum, black opals, boulder opals, demantoid garnets, rubies, enamel; 3 1/4 inches. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Courtesy of The Met

The shimmer and agility of the dragonflies is conveyed by gold forms set with black opals on their backs, pink opals as their heads, and gossamer-like platinum wings. It is believed that when the ornament was worn, these wings moved slightly when the wearer turned. Platinum has a very high melting point, and it took centuries of inventions and innovative techniques to facilitate its use in jewelry. It was not until around 1900 that it began to be a staple of fine jewelry making. Tiffany used the metal in a unique way on the dragonflies: It forms the delicate outline of wings and does not contain any stones.

Current Met curator Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen is friends with Louisine Havemeyer’s great-granddaughter, Linden Havemeyer Wise. Years ago, on a visit to Wise’s summer home, Frelinghuysen’s young son was mesmerized by a flying dragonfly. To delight him, Wise brought out a small box from her closet. Inside was the Tiffany Hair Ornament. Frelinghuysen recounts how she “nearly fainted” at the sight of it. Wise had always associated it with her grandmother, who was Louisine’s daughter-in-law. In fact, it was originally owned by Louisine herself. In 2002, Wise gifted it to The Met, where it enchants a larger public.

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