Design for Fern and Daisy Perfume Bottle No. 2661

Tiffany and Company · 1870/75

Medium

Black and sepia ink, with pencil and red ink, on tan wove paper

Original size

14.9 × 15.2 cm (5 7/8 × 6 in.)

Currently held

Art Institute of Chicago

Movement

Realism

This delicate working drawing reveals the craftsmanship that underpinned even the smallest luxury objects produced by Tiffany and Company in the Gilded Age. Created between 1870 and 1875, the design uses black and sepia ink alongside pencil and red ink on tan wove paper — a combination that lends the composition both warmth and precision. The interplay of fern fronds and daisy motifs reflects the period's fascination with naturalistic ornament, a decorative vocabulary that Tiffany's workshops translated into silver, enamel, and glass with extraordinary skill. As a design house rather than a single artist, Tiffany and Company employed teams of skilled draughtsmen whose preparatory drawings served as working documents, guiding craftsmen on form, proportion, and surface detail. The Art Institute of Chicago holds a substantial collection of these preparatory works, offering a rare window into the design process behind some of the nineteenth century's most celebrated decorative objects — drawings that were never intended for public display but carry their own quiet beauty. This hand-painted oil reproduction translates the original's refined line work and tonal subtlety into a richly textured piece, capturing both the elegance of the design and the considered hand that first set it down on paper.