TIFFANY STUDIOS | "WISTERIA" TABLE LAMP

Private Collection, circa 1975

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Robert Koch, Louis C. Tiffany: Rebel in Glass, New York, 1964, pl. v

Dr. Egon Neustadt, The Lamps of Tiffany, New York, 1970, pp. 215-220

Alastair Duncan, Tiffany At Auction, New York, 1981, pp. 89, no 238 and 148, no. 391

William Feldstein, Jr. and Alastair Duncan, The Lamps of Tiffany Studios, New York, 1983, p. 37

Robert Koch, Louis C. Tiffany's Glass, Bronzes, Lamps: A Complete Collector's Guide, New York, 1989, p. 131

Robert Koch, Louis C. Tiffany: The Collected Works of Robert Koch, Atglen, PA, 2001, pp. 74, 242 and 284

Alastair Duncan, Louis C. Tiffany: The Garden Museum Collection, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2004, pp. 292-293

Martin Eidelberg, Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Nancy A. McClelland and Lars Rachen, The Lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany, New York, 2005, p. 107

Alastair Duncan, Tiffany Lamps and Metalware, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2007, p. 67, no. 254

Martin Eidelberg, Nina Gray and Margaret K. Hofer, A New Light on Tiffany: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls, London, 2007, p. 48

Timeless Beauty, The Art of Louis Comfort Tiffany, The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, Atglen, PA, 2016, p. 119

The “Wisteria” lamp model is widely recognized as an icon not just of Tiffany’s extensive body of work, but also as a design icon of the 20^th Century. Designed by Clara Driscoll in 1901, the shade’s conventionalized floral forms and naturalistic coloration demonstrate the influence of Impressionism and Japonesque aesthetics that were popular at the time. The shade pattern is comprised of nearly 2,000 individually cut and selected pieces of glass and, as a result, each Wisteria lamp possesses its own distinct character and color palette, despite being a standard model. Technical aspects of the model evolved following its conception: early examples of the shade model, such as the present lot, feature a sharp shoulder, whereas later versions display a gentler curve descending from the upper bronze armature. Further, the glass cutting pattern of the model was also revised slightly by the firm. The present shade displays the earliest variety of the glass pattern and both the shade and base are impressed 3, underscoring that these elements are early works by the firm and that they originated together from the time of their production. This extraordinary Wisteria example presents a stunning, highly saturated and nuanced color palette in its lush panicles, ranging from deep cobalt to lavender with translucent tiles with vibrant green and aquamarine striations.  The overall effect is of light passing through a curtain of dripping wisteria blossoms, capturing and even amplifying the glory of nature that Louis C. Tiffany so admired.