TIFFANY STUDIOS

According to Marilynn A. Johnson, in her book Louis Comfort Tiffany Artist for the Ages, this extraordinary wrought iron and glass "chain mail" fire screen was originally placed in Cro Nest, the Rochester, New York, home of Claude Fayette Bragdon (1866-1946). Trained as an architect, Bragdon designed numerous buildings of note in the Rochester area. Of multifarious interests, however, Bragdon was also known for his stage designs, profound interest in mysticism and the occult, and his lectures and extensive writings on architecture, design, theater, yoga and theosophy. He was also a disciple of Louis Sullivan and wrote the forward to Sullivan's seminal treatise Kindergarten Chats.