This object forms part of a group of glass and enamel vessels Louis Comfort Tiffany loaned to the Museum in 1925. They were later donated to the Museum by the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation in 1951. Tiffany originally chose this group of objects to show examples of form, technique, and color that were not represented in the 1896 Havemeyer gift. This irregularly shaped container illustrates what Tiffany called "Lava" or "volcanic" glass, a variant example of his Favrile glass. The areas of smooth gold luster effectively mimic hot molten rock spilling from the mouth of a volcano. The contrasting rough black surface areas are a result of basalt or talc introduced into the molten glass.
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