Joseph Sataloff, Art Nouveau Jewelry, 1984, page 28.

Janet Zapata, The Jewelry and Enamels of Louis Comfort Tiffany, 1993, fig. 57, page 120.

Gladys and Robert Koch – Tiffany Revival Pioneers

Robert Koch passed away in August of 2003, roughly one year after the passing of his wife, Gladys. Their deaths represent another significant step in the “changing of the guard” from the older generation of Louis Comfort Tiffany dealers and collectors to a new cadre of devotees.

Robert Koch already had graduated from Harvard University, earned a Masters degree in Art History from New York University and completed service with the US Air Force during World War II when he discovered Louis Tiffany while working on his Ph.D. at Yale University. Encouraged by Gladys, Robert began acquiring small Tiffany pieces. His interest continued expanding and led to his serving as curator of the 1958 exhibition Louis Comfort Tiffany 1848-1933, held at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York. This ground-breaking exhibition marked the first serious exploration of Tiffany’s contribution to the decorative arts since his work fell out of fashion in the 1930s. In 1964 he published his first book, Louis C. Tiffany, Rebel in Glass, the seminal scholarly Tiffany work.

While his first love and greatest focus was on Louis Tiffany, Robert’s range was broad and his repertoire deep. Over the course of his career, Robert researched, studied and wrote about a variety of subjects whose common connection was the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His interest in turn-of-the-century posters led to several articles on that subject. Robert greatly appreciated illustrated books and his collection grew substantial enough for visiting scholars to use his library as a source for conducting research. Robert greatly admired Will Bradley, one of America’s greatest graphic artists, and he felt himself lucky to have interviewed Bradley in the 1960s. At the end of that interview, Robert promised Will Bradley that he would one day write a book about him. True to his word, in November of 2002, less than a year before his death, Robert’s book, Will H. Bradley, American Illustrator, A Collector’s Guide, was released. Other books he authored were Louis C. Tiffany’s Glass, Bronzes and Lamps – A Complete Collector’s Guide and Louis C. Tiffany’s Art Glass. In 2001, his books on Tiffany were compiled in a single volume, Lo🗹uis C. Tiffany: the Collected Works of Robertꦑ Koch.

Robert taught at Berkeley, Yale, and Queens College. Most of his teaching career was spent at Southern Connecticut State University. Teaching suited him well by providing the academic environment consistent with his love for research, and allowing him time, particularly in the summer, for travel in pursuit of his interests. Teaching gave Dr. Koch the gratifying opportunity of introducing young people to his areas of expertise.

Robert’s unrivaled knowledge of Tiffany and well-developed research abilities were perfectly complemented by Gladys’s extraordinary business acumen. Gladys’s unerring eye led into the antiques business and with Robert’s scholarly support and high visibility, the business thrived. Gladys quickly became a member of the group of outstanding women that included Lillian Nassau and Minna Rosenblatt who had the confidence and competence to establish themselves as leaders in their field. These women helped popularize the Art Nouveau movement and assured a place in history for artists of that short-lived but dynamic era.

Many of Tiffany’s masterpieces passed through Koch hands, either through Gladys’s business or through contacts by owners seeking the advice from the dean of the Tiffany scholars. The Kochs were thrilled to own some of Tiffany’s greatest works, yet they felt the responsibility to care for them for future generations. Consequently, many of their pieces are now found in museums housing some of the finest Tiffany collections in the world, including the Virginia Museum in Richmond, Virginia and the Morse Museum in Winter Park, Florida. Most recently, Robert donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York an extraordinary 1880 leaded glass window from Tiffany’s own “Bella” apartment, his Manhattan residence early in his career. The Met is planning to install the Bella window as part of its permanent Tiffany exhibition.

The Kochs generously share their time and knowledge; many Tiffany collectors and dealers got their start with ample helpings of Koch assistance. As the preeminent Tiffany scholar, and as one of the foremost Art Nouveau dealers, Robert and Gladys owned some of Tiffany’s finest pieces. Those that remained in their collection held a special place in their hearts and minds and now are available for others to cherish.

-Bruce Barnett

The bracelet offered here is illustrated in John Loring’s seminal 2002 book, Louis Comfort Tiffany. On page 60, he notes “the touches of bright green, red and blue enamel give it a neo-Egyptian aspect, dating it to around the time of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s “Egyptian Fête” in 1913.” When Tiffany arrived as a young man in Paris in 1868, the Empress Eugenie was celebrating the opening of the Suez Canal and Egyptian revival design had reached a fevered pitch. His fascination with Egyptian art and glassmaking took root at this time and remained great influences over the course of his life. It is also possible that he was aware of British Egyptologist W.M. Flinders Petrie’s course of lectures delivered at the Royal Institution, London in 1895. These illustrated lectures explored aspects of ancient Egyptian decoration, dividing them in four main areas, the first of which was the geometrical use of lines, spirals and curves. Petrie held that “the spiral or scroll, is one of the greatest elements of Egyptian inspiration; it is second only to the lotus in importance…(and) it has been said to represent the wanderings of the soul.” Here, Tiffany combines that earliest form of decoration, the spiral, with a palette of color that is found in ancient Egyptian jewelry. The centered segments of lapis lazuli are accented by bright green enamel further highlighted by dots of reddish orange enamel. Interestingly, the bracelet was designed at a time of great introspection for Tiffany. A trip to Egypt in 1908 inspired him to envision the creation of Egyptian-inspired jewels with his collaborator Julia Munson. The onset of the modernist movement in Europe and America was an anathema to Tiffany. John Loring, former design director of Tiffany & Co. noted that “Tiffany was demoralized by the instant and overwhelming success in the art world of the modernist vision that essentially opposed everything for which he stood.” Hence, Tiffany returned to the symbols, motifs and chromatic effects of the ancient culture that had been his source of inspiration for decades.

Tiffany attempted to strengthen support for his design concepts by hosting an Egyptian-themed costume party in the Tiffany Studio’s showroom on February 14, 1913. This “grand pageant” reenacted Mark Antony’s return to Cleopatra in Alexandria. All in attendance appeared in costume with Tiffany himself dressed as a pasha. One can just imagine a bracelet such at this decorating the arm of dancer Ruth St. Denis who was the feature of the fête. She was reported to have emerged from a rolled carpet, from which she began with her exotic dance, thinly covered in light brown gauze, full of “unusual” grace.