Named for the Central American Quetzal – a bird with brilliantly colored plumage – the Quezal Art Glass and Decorating Co. was founded in 1902 by two glassmakers, Martin Bach and Thomas Johnson, formerly working with Louis Comfort Tiffany. Their products were very similar to Tiffany’s art glass work like “Favrile” in its iridescent forms of blue, green, gold and white. Because of its quality and technical excellence the company soon became Tiffany Studio’s first serious competitor in the U.S. Quezal is also very similar to early Steuben art glass and unsigned pieces can be difficult to attribute. At least two other prominent company’s used Quezal in their products: Gorham added a silver overlay to Quezal works for their retail trade and the DeVilbis Co. (Toledo, Ohio) incorporated the art glass into their line of perfume dispensers and bottles. The Quezal company ceased operations in 1924.