'Art nouveau' derives its name from a shop in Paris, La Maison de l'Art Nouveau, which retailed glass and furniture by designers such as Tiffany René Lalique and Emile Gallé.. Art nouveau objects are characterised by sinuous fluid forms often derived from nature. The art Nouveau period is recorded as being between 1890 and 1914, this encompassed the latter years of the reign of Elizabeth the first and through that of Edward the seventh.