Tiffany Studios New York “Dragonfly” Table Lamp

About the Item

This Tiffany Studios New York "Dragonfly" leaded glass and bronze table lamp was designed circa 1905-1913. The shade, bordered above and below by amber streaked with emerald green, features six amber dragonflies, their wings shaded in subtle undertones of light blue streaked with raw umber. Highlighted by amber glass cabochons, the striking mottled glass employed consistently throughout the background evokes a golden hour wetland vista with dragonflies among motes and scintilla, all hovering over tranquil water late on a summer’s day. The peaceful scene rests on a rare “Mushroom” base. Product Details: Item #: L-20743 Artist: Tiffany Studios New York Country: United States Circa: 1905-1913 Dimensions: 20" diameter, 22.5" height Materials: Leaded Glass, Bronze Shade Signed: Tiffany Studios New York 1495 Base Signed: Tiffany Studios New York 394 Literature: Dr. Egon Neustadt, The Lamps of Tiffany, New York, 1970, pp. 102-105 (for the shade) Robert Koch, Louis C. Tiffany's Glass, Bronzes, Lamps: A Complete Collector's Guide, New York, 1989, p. 128 (for the shade) David A. Hanks, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Treasures from the Driehaus Collection, New York, 2013, pp. 52-55 (for the shade) Alastair Duncan, Tiffany Lamps and Metalware, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2019, pp. 106, fig. 413 and 172, fig. 696 (for the shade);pp. 106, no. 414, 170, no. 685. A similar base is pictured on p. 84, plate 324. Macklowe Gallery Curator's Notes: In their various iterations, dating from 1906 and before, dragonfly lamps were among the earliest, most popular, and most costly of Tiffany Studios designs. The dragonfly was a leitmotif of the Art Nouveau, but Louis Tiffany encountered the creature and explored its form and significance throughout his childhood and artistic life, beginning as a youngster who sketched au plein air in the woods and wetlands surrounding his father’s summer house. At Tiffany & Co., Louis encountered dragonflies in the metalwork of Edward C. Moore, who was strongly inspired by the Katsushika Hokusai’s woodblock prints and their evocative views into the minute worlds of butterflies, dragonflies and grasshoppers. At his Laurelton Hall estate, an artwork of nature coaxed into form over decades, Tiffany observed these insects in the teeming salt water marshes and wetlands of Oyster Bay. The dragonfly’s iridescent wings, lustrous, metallic body, and wetland habitat of blues and greens embodied many of Louis’ fascinations with the ephemeral phenomena of color and light. Dragonflies served as inspiration in a variety of Louis’ most notable lamps, as well a remarkable early jewel, the dragonfly hair ornament in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since Tiffany Studio artisans were given the freedom to select particular textures, patterns, hues, tones and saturations of the glass they would use for each shade, the lamps are unique in subtle ways. Among this lamp’s particular charms is the dichroism of its shade. The reddish amber dichroism of the green glass, an innovative effect achieved through the addition of minute amounts of silver and gold, is readily seen when the shade is viewed from within. In addition, beautiful and subtle features enhance its interior, and are evident on closer inspection. The interior coppered lead surfaces of the shade were gilded, enhancing the shade’s light transmission and golden brightness. Further, the risers spiral in whiplash curves up to the light cluster, and are enhanced with exotic shell motifs where they join the columnar base. With its stylized naturalism, restrained palette, innovative glass, subtle shading, and early gilt surface, the lamp is a unified work of beauty.

Creator:
Louis Comfort Tiffany (Workshop/Studio)
Dimensions:
Height: 22.5 in (57.15 cm)Diameter: 20 in (50.8 cm)
Style:
Art Nouveau (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Bronze,Glass,Lead
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
Early 20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
1905-1913
Condition:
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
Seller: L-207431stDibs: LU885431666222
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Louis Comfort Tiffany

The name Tiffany prompts thoughts of two things: splendid gifts in robin’s-egg blue boxes and exquisite stained glass. Charles Lewis Tiffany founded the former, and his son, Louis Comfort Tiffany, is responsible for exemplars of the latter. Beyond glass, the younger Tiffany worked in mediums that ranged from furniture and enameling to ceramics and metalware. Louis Comfort Tiffany was undoubtedly the most influential and accomplished American decorative artist in the decades that spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

By the time Tiffany was born, the stationery and “fancy goods” emporium his father had established 11 years before had grown to become the most fashionable jewelry and luxury items store in New York. Tiffany fils declined to join the family business and pursued a career as an artist. 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, a multimedia decorative-arts manufactory.

Tiffany developed a method in which colors were blended together in the molten state. Recalling the Old English word fabrile, meaning “hand-wrought,” he named the blown glass Favrile, a term that signified handmade glass of unique quality. In his glass designs, Tiffany embraced the emerging Art Nouveau movement and its sinuous, naturalistic forms and motifs. The pieces won Tiffany international fame. (Siegfried Bing, the Paris entrepreneur whose design store, L’Art Nouveau, gave the stylistic movement its name, was the leading European importer of Tiffany pieces.)

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. Tiffany Studios table lamps are the most recognizable and the most prized. They range in price from $60,000 to upward of $2 million for intricate shade designs like the Dragonfly. Tiffany glass vases and bowls are generally priced from $1,000 to $30,000 depending on size, color, condition and form. Simpler accessories such as metal trays and small picture frames can fetch from $800 to $3,000. Tiffany design of any type is an emblem of taste and craftsmanship. As you will see on 1stDibs, Louis Comfort Tiffany ensured that each piece he and his company produced, magnificent or modest, was a work of art.

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