favrile

favrile — noun

1. a type of hand-blown art glass that shines with shifting rainbow colours on its

1.nounC2
Definition

a type of hand-blown art glass that shines with shifting rainbow colours on its surface, created by Louis Comfort Tiffany in the late 1890s and known for its rich, jewel-like finish.

Example

Constanza inherited a small favrile vase that her grandmother had bought in New York in 1905.

favrile + [vessel noun] — attributive use naming a Tiffany glass object

The museum's new gallery displays twenty pieces of favrile alongside other Art Nouveau treasures.

pieces of favrile — uncountable measure phrase

Common collocations
  • favrile glass
  • favrile vase
  • favrile lamp
  • Tiffany favrile
  • piece of favrile
Synonyms
  • iridescent glass

    general descriptive term; favrile is one specific branded type with a distinctive Tiffany pattern

  • art glass

    broad category covering many decorative glass styles; favrile is one famous subtype

Grammar Patterns

a piece of favrile

favrile glass / vase / lamp

Usage Note

Almost always uncountable; rarely pluralised. Frequently used attributively before another noun (favrile vase, favrile glass, favrile lamp). Often capitalised as 'Favrile' in art catalogues because the term was originally a Tiffany Studios trademark.

Common Mistakes

She collects three favriles from the 1900s.
She collects three pieces of favrile from the 1900s.
favrile is uncountable; count it with 'pieces of' or name the object (vases, lamps).
The window is made of favrile crystal.
The window is made of favrile glass.
favrile refers specifically to art glass, not to lead crystal.

Common collocations

Nouns

  • favrile glass
  • favrile vase
  • favrile lamp
  • favrile panel

Phrases

  • Tiffany favrile
  • signed favrile
  • antique favrile

Prepositions

  • of (a piece of favrile)
  • in (figures rendered in favrile)

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Coined around 1894 by the American artist Louis Comfort Tiffany as a trademark for his hand-blown iridescent glass. The name was shaped from the obsolete English word 'fabrile', meaning 'made by a craftsman' or 'belonging to a workshop', which itself came from the Latin 'fabrilis' (of a craftsman) and 'faber' (a maker, smith). Tiffany registered the name in 1894 and used it for vases, lamps, and architectural glass produced at his Corona, New York workshop.