DATED ACID-ETCHED BANNER MARK, PARIS EXHIBITION 1889, THOMAS WEBB & SONS GEM CAMEO, RETAILER’S RIBBON FOR TIFFANY & CO., DESIGNED BY THOMAS AND GEORGE WOODALL

Together with 'The Great Tazza’, now conserved by The Corning Museum of Glass (inv. no. 92.2.8), this extraordinarily deep cut vase was prominently displayed by Tiffany & Co. at the Paris Exhibition of 1889. In anticipation of this seminal event, the secretive Woodall Team had been formed. The Woodall brothers Thomas and George hand-selected only the finest craftsmen for the ‘Gem Cameo’ workshop. Inspired by the Asian works Thomas Woodall had seen in Paris at the Exhibition of 1878; coupled with George Woodall’s careful study at the South Kensington Museum, London in 1879; and influenced by the 1867 publication of Owen Jones’, Examples of Chinese Ornament, the team embarked on a fresh design course. Webb’s contribution to the exhibition and in particular the works of the Woodall Team, won great acclaim.