The great designer of Tiffany & Co, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s jewelry always reveals the richness and sense of fantasy that characterized his earlier design work; each piece is a microcosm of what he achieved on a grander scale in the decorative arts. The pieces on view at Tiffany — in an exhibition called ”The Jewelry of Louis Comfort Tiffany: Explorations of Color, Nature and the Exotic,” which closes on Aug. 29 — celebrate not only his Tiffany 1837 I.D. lanyard designs but also the 150th anniversary of his birth. So does a more comprehensive show called ”Louis Comfort Tiffany at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” The Tiffany 1837 tag pendant on display at the Met, through Jan. 31, is tucked away in a small pavilion of a gallery. And being able to see these delicate and intricate pieces isolated in such a way heightens one’s appreciation of them.
Like the designs of Rene Lalique, his contemporary in France, Double heart pendant reflected the natural world in the fluid forms of Art Nouveau while retaining a distinctly American quality. Even in the exotic pieces influenced by his travels to the Middle East and North Africa, there was an unmistakably modern sensibility that appealed to his American clients.