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Lot Essay
Of all the lamps created by Tiffany Studios, there is none more iconic than the majestic ‘Wisteria’ on tree-form base table lamp. The intricate shade of over 2000 tiles of glass became one of the company’s most desirable and best-selling luxury lamps. Wisteria lamps vary from deep blue to silvery and opalescent glass, and each as compelling and contemplative as the other for the artistry in glass.
Native to Asia, the wisteria vine was a favorite of Louis Comfort Tiffany. The magnificent cascades of blossoms first arrived to the United States in the early nineteenth century leaving an indelible mark on landscape architecture from the east to the west coast of America. Louis Comfort Tiffany also had a canopy of wisteria outside his home and more wisteria vines hanging from a pergola in his gardens at his Oyster Bay, Long Island estate, Laurelton Hall. Famously, Tiffany sought to capture the blossoms not only in lamp form, but also in the unique windows for the dining room of Laurelton Hall as well (currently in the permanent collection of the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum).
The 'Wisteria' table lamp is a visual reminder of the excellence of craftsmanship and artistry of the Tiffany Studios. Clara Driscoll (1861-1944), manager of the Women's Glass Cutting Department for Tiffany Studios where the ‘Tiffany Girls’ executed the sophisticated designs, has received overdue accolades as the notable author of many of Tiffany Studios most iconic lamp shade designs by way of the discovery of her written letters back home. From these letters we have learned that Driscoll was the designer of the Wisteria, and that ‘she had at least four other versions ‘in the works” (see M. Eidelberg, N. Gray, M. Koefer, A New Light on Tiffany, Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls, 2007, p. 58.). While these patterns appear on the 1906 price list, these shades were discontinued by the time the company’s 1910 price list was published, likely due to the time and investment each shade demanded.
The present lot with plunging blossoms of intricate petals in a pearlescent eggshell tone and silvery vanilla hue terminates with a budding lemon-yellow border, akin to tips of the blossoms yet to open to full life. The rich green and yellow foliage peeking amongst the flowing blooms offers the eye the opportunity to explore further the nature of the flower. The naturalistic network of bronze branches offering canopy for the shade, is harmonious paired with the tree-form base, a full realization of Tiffany’s Studios ethos: to capture and immortalize nature at its most optimum moment in time.
Native to Asia, the wisteria vine was a favorite of Louis Comfort Tiffany. The magnificent cascades of blossoms first arrived to the United States in the early nineteenth century leaving an indelible mark on landscape architecture from the east to the west coast of America. Louis Comfort Tiffany also had a canopy of wisteria outside his home and more wisteria vines hanging from a pergola in his gardens at his Oyster Bay, Long Island estate, Laurelton Hall. Famously, Tiffany sought to capture the blossoms not only in lamp form, but also in the unique windows for the dining room of Laurelton Hall as well (currently in the permanent collection of the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum).
The 'Wisteria' table lamp is a visual reminder of the excellence of craftsmanship and artistry of the Tiffany Studios. Clara Driscoll (1861-1944), manager of the Women's Glass Cutting Department for Tiffany Studios where the ‘Tiffany Girls’ executed the sophisticated designs, has received overdue accolades as the notable author of many of Tiffany Studios most iconic lamp shade designs by way of the discovery of her written letters back home. From these letters we have learned that Driscoll was the designer of the Wisteria, and that ‘she had at least four other versions ‘in the works” (see M. Eidelberg, N. Gray, M. Koefer, A New Light on Tiffany, Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls, 2007, p. 58.). While these patterns appear on the 1906 price list, these shades were discontinued by the time the company’s 1910 price list was published, likely due to the time and investment each shade demanded.
The present lot with plunging blossoms of intricate petals in a pearlescent eggshell tone and silvery vanilla hue terminates with a budding lemon-yellow border, akin to tips of the blossoms yet to open to full life. The rich green and yellow foliage peeking amongst the flowing blooms offers the eye the opportunity to explore further the nature of the flower. The naturalistic network of bronze branches offering canopy for the shade, is harmonious paired with the tree-form base, a full realization of Tiffany’s Studios ethos: to capture and immortalize nature at its most optimum moment in time.