Tiffany Studios "Peony" Leaded Glass Table Lamp

Tiffany’s “Peony” table lamp was a work grounded in naturalism but reaching for the divine. With a shade of resplendent blooms and a mosaic base evoking the hallowed ground of church floors, Tiffany’s peony lamp demonstrates his foundation in both Art nouveau and ecclesiastical art. To depict his multi-hued bouquet, Tiffany depicted two different cultivars, a Greek peony, and a Japanese peony. Tiffany used burgundy glass streaked with lapis to express the richness of the Greek Peony. Favored by neoclassical artists for their symmetry and simplicity, Tiffany featured the bloom in the architecture of his country estate. To represent the candy-striped Japanese peony Shima Nishiki, Tiffany used cream glass streaked with fuschia. The shade elegantly depicts different stages of growth from the bud, first bloom, peak bloom, to wilting. When peony petals wilt, their veins darken, and their form puckers. Tiffany’s glass selectors chose a stone textured glass called granite glass to express the wilting of the petals and their pronounced venation. The background and border of the shade is a golden amber, streaked with magenta and blue. The top-down perspective of the peony with a dirt background was a type of painting called “Rasenstück”, a detailed study of a piece of turf. The crux of the Rasenstück was the elevation of the humble. Popularized in the nineteenth century by the American Pre-Raphaelites, the movement believed in the idea of "truth to nature". The principle encouraged painters to capture the natural world as truthfully as possible, not romanticizing what they saw. In these nature studies, painters depicted flowers and trees in the soil from which they grew. While sublime on its own, the shade and base taken together paint a picture of Tiffany’s Japanese garden. Peonies imported from the far east bordered serene ponds. A frieze of turtleback tiles hypnotizes the viewers with its scarlet glow, evoking the red flash of a sunset, as seen through a field of cattails, rendered in bronze. Below it, the row of cat tails blends into a mosaic of red, yellow, and green glass. While Tiffany’s chief designer Clara Driscoll is most famous for her naturalistic lamp designs, the bread and butter of Tiffany Studios was its ecclesiastical department. Red, yellow, and green colorways were widely used in the depiction of Baroque angels, whose wings were modeled after birds of paradise. As hunters removed their legs upon sale, many believed they neither ate nor drank, and instead floated ethereally like angels. A lamp such as this epitomizes Tiffany’s understanding of his artistic vision in the context of the entire history of artistic expression. Since falling in love with glass at age twelve in the cathedrals of Chartres, light itself became a representation of divinity. A contemporary critic described Tiffany’s mosaics...

Tiffany Studios leaded glass and patinated bronze "Vine Border" table lamp, circa 1910 on a large Greek urn design base with three-arm spider supports above urn form oil canister, ...

Unique Art Glass & Metal Company (New York, active 1889-1917), circa 1915. This truly magnificent leaded glass table lamp which was produced during the tim...

A Tiffany Studios patinated bronze table lamp marked "Tiffany Studios 606" with a beautiful green favrile oil spot shade. Its radiant presence illuminates both its surroundings and ...

Lovely, large leaded glass table lamp after Louis Comfort Tiffany with shade featuring berry vine motif and standard with iridescent turtleback glass. 34 1/2 inches tall and 22 inch...

Tiffany Studios "Crocus" Table circa 1900 Leaded glass, patinated bronze Kerosene base electrified. Shade impressed "Tiffany Studios, New York" Base impressed "Tiffany Studios, New York, 29938" Height: 23 in. high, Shade: 14 1/2 in. diameter Condition: The shade is in very good condition with only two single line cracks in the flower petals. Could be cleaned. The base with minor surface scratches, abrasions and discolorations to the patina commensurate with age. Later heat cap. AVANTIQUES is dedicated to providing an exclusive curated collection of fine Arts, Paintings, Bronzes, Asian treasures, Art Glass and Antiques. Our inventory represents time-tested investment quality items with everlasting decorative beauty. We look forward to your business and appreciate any reasonable offers. All of our curated items are vetted and guaranteed authentic and as described. Avantiques only deals in original antiques and never reproductions. We stand behind our treasures with a full money back return policy if the items are not as described. Please also consider Avantiques eclectic Art...