Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933).  "It is perhaps the intense prowess of Tiffany’s colour and iridescence that engage and captivate with such transcendency.  In his own words from his filing for a patent for his lustre ware, Tiffany describes the colour as “a highly-iridescent one and of pleasing metallic luster, changeable from one to another, depending upon the direction of the visual ray and the brilliancy or dullness of the light falling upon or passing through the glass.”  Be it startling iridescence or a softer, gentler pearlized glow, Tiffany’s rich lustrous golds and deep blues remain to this day in a class by themselves.  This Tiffany instrument centers around one of Tiffany’s scarabs.  The beetle was an often-seen motif in Nouveau - partially for its ties with antiquity, and as a symbol of industriousness."

Paul Schmidt

This instrument has the iridescent blue/green/black scarab framed by an original brace made by Steve Klein in the early part of his acoustic experiments, and another artifact from Klein’s early work at the lower portion of the body.  The movement in the sensuously dramatic figure of the Redwood burl simultaneously mirrors and contrasts with the Loetz glass in the upper bout, and carries on the theme of industriousness.  Fingerboard decorations inspired by Klein’s artifacts are fashioned from pearl, and carry the movement of the body designs upward.  The textures of the scarab, wood and glass all compliment one another as the exuberantly red pickups bring sparks of depth and richness that are not unlike the essence of the colour of the scarab.  The bridge is fashioned from Amazon Rosewood, the knobs are from a 1930s radio, and the Catalin selector switch is rounded like the scarab’s back."

Paul Schmidt