Leslie Hayden Nash (1884–1958) was an artist, designer, and important figure within Tiffany Studios. The son of glassmaker Arthur J. Nash, he joined Louis Comfort Tiffany’s firm after initially working in engineering. In 1908, Nash took over direction of the blown-glass department from his father and later led the pottery and enameling departments. By 1912, he was also responsible for the window-glass department. Corning Museum of Glass research notes that Nash and his brother A. Douglas Nash later owned substantial interests in the company and had a major role in its operation. (Corning Museum of Glass)

Nash was also a practicing artist. The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds a group of his Tiffany Studios drawings, color studies, stencils, and designs dating from 1920–27, describing them as evidence of his artistic process and working methods. The Met identifies him as production manager of Tiffany Studios’ glass furnace and production facilities in Corona, Queens. (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Later in life, Nash increasingly devoted himself to painting, teaching, lecturing about glass, and recording his experiences working with Louis Comfort Tiffany. In 1957, he completed the manuscript Tiffany Favrile Glass. (Corning Museum of Glass)

Shown here is a rare landscape painting signed Leslie H Nash, depicting a quiet body of water bordered by trees and reflected light. The work provides another view of an artist whose career is usually encountered through the celebrated glass and decorative arts of Tiffany Studios. Our research has only located about a dozen of his paintings so far.

The Mayflower Descendants Museum will explore Leslie Hayden Nash, his role at Tiffany Studios, his surviving designs, and his later work as a painter in greater depth through future social-media features.

Holdings of the Mayflower Descendants Museum.

Sources & Further Reading

Corning Museum of Glass, Rakow Research Library — Arthur and Leslie Nash
Biographical research documenting Nash’s career at Tiffany, his leadership of the blown-glass, pottery, enameling, and window-glass operations, and his later painting and writing.
Corning Museum of Glass: Arthur and Leslie Nash

The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Leslie Hayden Nash / Tiffany Studios
The Met preserves a group of thirteen Nash sketches, color studies, stencils, and design drawings and identifies him as production manager of Tiffany Studios’ Corona glass furnace and production facilities.
The Met: Leslie Hayden Nash, Color Study of Coptic Patterns