Skip to main content

Macy’s Tiffany Mosaic Ceiling | The Most Beautiful Places in Chicago with Geoffrey Baer

Macy’s Tiffany Mosaic Ceiling
Macy’s Tiffany Mosaic Ceiling
Macy’s Tiffany Mosaic Ceiling
Look up from the cosmetics department in Macy’s or head up to the fifth floor to see the detail in the Tiffany mosaic. Credit: Meredith Francis for WTTW

Macy’s Tiffany Mosaic Ceiling

Formerly the iconic Marshall Field’s store, Macy’s on State Street in Chicago’s Loop is home to a sprawling, beautiful feature – you just have to look up. Above the cosmetic counters, there is a 6,000-square-foot mosaic made of over one million pieces of glass. Completed in 1907, the mosaic was designed by Louis C. Tiffany, art director of famed Tiffany & Co. As Jeffrey A. Brune writes in the Encyclopedia of Chicago, when Marshall Field’s first opened, it “was more than a place for people to spend their money; the 12-story building became a public landmark and spectacle.” The mosaic in the store’s vaulted ceiling is a visual reminder of that spectacle.