Tiffany Studios New York Damascene Table Lamp

About the Item

This delicately sized Tiffany Studios New York “Damascene” lamp is superbly colored in blood-orange and gold. Trails of blood orange glass were applied obliquely then combed through to create a stunning waved pattern. The Damascus lamps were named after the folded Damascus steel blades of Syria, wherein high and low carbon steel was folded together to create swirled charcoal and silver patterning. Through the medium of glass, Tiffany expressed his love of the Near East and the romance of the Bedouin warrior. The gilt bronze base further accents the golden hues on the shade. Product Details: Item #: L-21154 Artist: Tiffany Studios New York Country: United States Circa: 1904 Size: 8.00" diameter, 15.5" height Materials: Favrile Glass, Gilt Bronze Base Signed: Tiffany Studios New York 639 Literature: A similar shade is pictured in: Tiffany Lamps and Metalware: An illustrated reference to over 2000 models, by Alastair Duncan, Woodbridge: Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club, 1988. Shade: p. 87, plate 342 Macklowe Gallery Curator's Notes: The "Damascene" shade is comprised of so called "Dychroide" glass, an innovation by Arthur J. Nash, production manager at Tiffany Furnaces. It has the unique quality of appearing green in reflected light, and amber in transmitted light. This innovation gives a dynamic quality to Tiffany's lamps that have proven to be a true unification of form and function.

Creator:
Tiffany Studios (Workshop/Studio)
Dimensions:
Height: 15.5 in (39.37 cm)Diameter: 8 in (20.32 cm)
Power Source:
Plug-in
Lampshade:
Included
Style:
Art Nouveau (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Bronze,Glass,Gilt
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
Early 20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
1904
Condition:
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
Seller: L-211541stDibs: LU885438004552
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Tiffany Studios

The hand-crafted kerosene and early electric lighting fixtures created at Tiffany Studios now rank among the most coveted decorative objects in the world. Tiffany designs of any kind are emblematic of taste and craftsmanship, and Tiffany glass refers to far more than stained-glass windows and decorative glass objects. The iconic multimedia manufactory’s offerings include stained-glass floor lamps, chandeliers and enameled metal vases. The most recognizable and prized of its works are antique Tiffany Studios table lamps.

The name Tiffany generally prompts thoughts of two things: splendid gifts in robin’s-egg blue boxes and exquisite stained glass. In 1837, Charles Lewis Tiffany founded the former — Tiffany & Co., one of America’s most prominent purveyors of luxury goods — while his son, Louis Comfort Tiffany, is responsible for exemplars of the latter.

Louis was undoubtedly the most influential and accomplished American decorative artist in the decades that spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rather than join the family business, he studied painting with several teachers, notably the scenic painter Samuel Colman, while spending long periods touring Europe and North Africa. Though he painted his entire career, visits to continental churches sparked a passionate interest in stained glass. Tiffany began experimenting with the material and in 1875 opened a glass factory-cum-laboratory in Corona, Queens — the core of what eventually became Tiffany Studios.

In his glass designs, Tiffany embraced the emerging Art Nouveau movement and its sinuous, naturalistic forms and motifs. By 1902, along with glass, Tiffany was designing stained-glass lamps and chandeliers as well as enameled metal vases, boxes and bowls, and items such as desk sets and candlesticks. Today such pieces epitomize the rich aesthetics of their era.

The lion’s share of credit for Tiffany Studios table lamps and other fixtures has gone to Louis. However, it was actually Clara Driscoll (1861–1944), an Ohio native and head of the Women’s Glass Cutting Department for 17 years, who was the genius behind the Tiffany lamps that are most avidly sought by today’s collectors. A permanent gallery of Tiffany lamps at the New-York Historical Society celebrates the anonymous women behind the desirable fixtures.

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