The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York

Laurelton Hall was built by Louis Comfort Tiffany’s between 1902 and 1905 to showcase his studio’s glass and decorative arts and his unique eclectic design sensibilities. Tragically, the building was destroyed by fire in 1957 and the damaged fragments that could be salvaged have remained hidden in storage for fifty years

In preparation for an exhibition of Laurelton Hall at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Conservation Solutions, Inc. conserved the stone elements and glass capitals from the Daffodil Terrace and the marble and mosaic dining room fireplace. Work included removal of the artifacts from storage at the Morse Museum in Winter Park, Florida, treatment of the artifacts, creation of structural supports, and installation in the museum galleries. Work was performed in collaboration with Griswold Conservation Associates.

Conservators thoroughly cleaned each artifact, taking care to preserve fragile hand-tinted mortars amidst the glass daffodil bouquet capitals. Each of the marble elements was carefully cleaned and repaired. A structural system that could support the terrace and be disassembled was created for both the fireplace and the terrace.

At the end of the year-long restoration, the artifacts were crated and shipped to the Metropolitan Museum where they were installed and reunited with other artifacts from Laurelton Hall for the first time in half a century.

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More information on the installation of Tiffany’s Daffodil Terrace at the Metropolitan Museum can be found on the New York Times website.