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Lot Essay
Louis Tiffany was enamored with all flowering vines, but perhaps none so much as the wisteria. Native to Asia, the Japanese variety, simply known as the “blue vine,” was introduced to the United States in 1830 and soon named after the American anatomist and physician Caspar Wistar. Tiffany was an avid collector of Asian arts and crafts and was likely well aware that the wisteria in Japan symbolized long life and immortality, as well as signifying love and tenderness.
Tiffany’s love for the plant is readily apparent in his landscaping of Laurelton Hall, his Long Island mansion, where he planned for two varieties of wisteria to grow over large sections of the structure. Therefor it should come as no surprise that Tiffany Studios decided to transform the wisteria into a leaded glass lamp shade. Clara Driscoll, the head of the firm’s Women’s Glass Cutters Department, is credited with the design, most probably with Louis Tiffany’s guidance and suggestions. The lamp made its first appearance towards the end of 1901. Driscoll wrote in July 1902: “Today we go on order for…five more wisteria lamps in all, and as they are my design and sell for $250 apiece, I feel quite pleased.”
The model quickly received immediate critical recognition and a 1903 article proclaimed: “At Louis C. Tiffany’s studios was seen a lamp that was a marvel in construction and color. It was the Wisteria lamp, that flower being reproduced in natural colors, in glass, as the shade. This shade was leaded and so arranged as to fall over the light to resemble a flexible fabric with an irregular border of blossoms, buds and leaves as though suspended and drooping over. The idea was entirely novel, and one of which variations are practically endless….”
The model, although priced at the exorbitant sum of $400 by 1906. soon became one of the company’s best-selling lamps. The overwhelming popularity of the design quickly persuaded Tiffany to produce a smaller version at a lower price for those clients who possibly had neither the space nor the finances for the original model. Their 1906 Price List includes a “No. 349 Pony WISTARIA …$200.00.”
Despite its lesser dimensions, the Pony Wisteria is equally impactful in its superior artistry and craftsmanship as the example offered here clearly demonstrates. Descending from the finely cast openwork patinated bronze top and shoulder that replicate the vine’s twining stems are yellow and blue-streaked green leafage. Pendulous vertical racemes descend to the irregular lower border in a stunning assemblage of opalescent glass in shades of blue, lavender, teal and pearlescent white. Foliage, or “confetti,” glass, in this case transparent glass embedded with pink, red, green and yellow shards, are beautifully interspersed, adding an unexpected brilliancy and creating the distinct sensation of the blossoms being seen at sunrise. Interestingly, the bases for the two models are radically different from each other. While the larger version has a “tree-trunk” design, the Pony model is superbly cast with a complex network of sinuous, tangled vines in high relief.
The Pony Wisteria was in production for an exceptionally short period, being discontinued in 1910, which likely accounts for its rarity. The model is one of the finest representations of many elements of the Tiffany Studios’ oeuvre: the revolutionary nature of Tiffany’s Favrile glass; the extraordinary talent of the “Tiffany Girls” in selecting that glass for the exact desired purpose, and, most importantly, Louis C. Tiffany’s and Clara Driscoll’s ability to transform their aesthetic ideals into iconic works of art.
– Paul Doros, former curator of glass at the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA and author of The Glass of Louis Comfort Tiffany (New York, 2013)
Tiffany’s love for the plant is readily apparent in his landscaping of Laurelton Hall, his Long Island mansion, where he planned for two varieties of wisteria to grow over large sections of the structure. Therefor it should come as no surprise that Tiffany Studios decided to transform the wisteria into a leaded glass lamp shade. Clara Driscoll, the head of the firm’s Women’s Glass Cutters Department, is credited with the design, most probably with Louis Tiffany’s guidance and suggestions. The lamp made its first appearance towards the end of 1901. Driscoll wrote in July 1902: “Today we go on order for…five more wisteria lamps in all, and as they are my design and sell for $250 apiece, I feel quite pleased.”
The model quickly received immediate critical recognition and a 1903 article proclaimed: “At Louis C. Tiffany’s studios was seen a lamp that was a marvel in construction and color. It was the Wisteria lamp, that flower being reproduced in natural colors, in glass, as the shade. This shade was leaded and so arranged as to fall over the light to resemble a flexible fabric with an irregular border of blossoms, buds and leaves as though suspended and drooping over. The idea was entirely novel, and one of which variations are practically endless….”
The model, although priced at the exorbitant sum of $400 by 1906. soon became one of the company’s best-selling lamps. The overwhelming popularity of the design quickly persuaded Tiffany to produce a smaller version at a lower price for those clients who possibly had neither the space nor the finances for the original model. Their 1906 Price List includes a “No. 349 Pony WISTARIA …$200.00.”
Despite its lesser dimensions, the Pony Wisteria is equally impactful in its superior artistry and craftsmanship as the example offered here clearly demonstrates. Descending from the finely cast openwork patinated bronze top and shoulder that replicate the vine’s twining stems are yellow and blue-streaked green leafage. Pendulous vertical racemes descend to the irregular lower border in a stunning assemblage of opalescent glass in shades of blue, lavender, teal and pearlescent white. Foliage, or “confetti,” glass, in this case transparent glass embedded with pink, red, green and yellow shards, are beautifully interspersed, adding an unexpected brilliancy and creating the distinct sensation of the blossoms being seen at sunrise. Interestingly, the bases for the two models are radically different from each other. While the larger version has a “tree-trunk” design, the Pony model is superbly cast with a complex network of sinuous, tangled vines in high relief.
The Pony Wisteria was in production for an exceptionally short period, being discontinued in 1910, which likely accounts for its rarity. The model is one of the finest representations of many elements of the Tiffany Studios’ oeuvre: the revolutionary nature of Tiffany’s Favrile glass; the extraordinary talent of the “Tiffany Girls” in selecting that glass for the exact desired purpose, and, most importantly, Louis C. Tiffany’s and Clara Driscoll’s ability to transform their aesthetic ideals into iconic works of art.
– Paul Doros, former curator of glass at the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA and author of The Glass of Louis Comfort Tiffany (New York, 2013)