Tiffany Studios

with a rare favrile mosaic glass "Arrowhead" base

Sotheby Parke Bernet Monaco, February 10, 1981, lot 1360 (for the shade)
Acquired from the above by Susan and Al Turner, Plymouth, MI
Minna Rosenblatt, New York
Private Collection, California
Christie's New York, March 18, 1989, lot 215 (for the shade and base)
Acquired from the above by the present owners

Grafton Galleries, Exhibition of L'Art Nouveau:  S. Bing, Paris, London, 1899, p. 22 (for a description of the firm's Dragonfly lamp included in the exhibition)  
Lamps and Fixtures, New York, 1899 (for the Dragonfly and Waterflowers lamp illustrated in the firm's 1899 catalogue)
W. R. Bradshaw, “Favrile Glass,”  The House Beautiful, April 1900, vol. VII, no. 5, p. 278 (for a reference to the Dragonfly and Waterflowers lampshade model)
William Feldstein, Jr., and Alastair Duncan, The Lamps of Tiffany Studios, New York, 1983, pp. 150-151 (for another example of the model)
Alastair Duncan, Louis C. Tiffany:  The Garden Museum Collection, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2004, pp. 306-307 (for another example of the model formerly in the Garden Museum Collection, Japan)
Martin Eidelberg, Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Nancy A. McClelland and Lars Rachen, The Lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany, New York, 2005, p. 21 (for the period photograph of the Dragonfly and Waterflowers lamp from the firm’s 1899 catalogue)
Martin Eidelberg, Nina Gray and Margaret K. Hofer, A New Light on Tiffany:  Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls, London, 2007, pp. 14, 42, 45, 60, 66 and 97 (for references pertaining to Clara Driscoll’s designs for the Dragonfly lampshade model)
Alastair Duncan, Tiffany Lamps and Metalware, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2007, p. 48, no. 164 (for another example of the model) and p. 143, no. 595 (for a period illustration of the Dragonfly and Waterflowers model)

Overall in very good condition. The shade with approximately 20 cracks to the glass tiles dispersed throughout, many of which are exceedingly minor and located on very small tiles. This rare “Dragonfly and Waterflowers” shade was recently evaluated by one of the leading Tiffany restorers, Paul Crist. A copy of Crist’s letter of authentication and detailed condition assessment are available upon request. (Please contact the department at 212-606-7170 for a copy of this letter.) To summarize Crist’s conclusions, the shade appears to have been restored in the past on two occasions, the first restoration taking place sometime before 1981 when the lamp was sold at Sotheby’s Monaco, and the second restoration taking place shortly thereafter this 1981 sale. Based on the 1981 catalogue illustration, a small localized area just below the top aperture rim of the shade had an old restoration, as evidenced by the appearance of several “Dutchmen” (faux lead lines used to stabilize and conceal a crack). This same area was later conserved with a more sensitive restoration, and approximately 9 pieces of glass appear to have been replaced, the majority being small leaf and background tiles. At the time of restoration, it also appears the shade leading was repatinated. This restoration was sensitively executed and the shade presents beautifully with aesthetic cohesion. The rare “Arrowhead” base is in very good condition. The mosaic favrile glass tiles ornamenting the base all appear intact and undisturbed, with some occasional edge wear and very small and minor edge flecks consistent with age and very gentle use. The mosaic tiles display vigorous wave-form decoration which imparts the base with strong rhythmic movement. The tiles display a strong color transition ranging from aqua, magenta, green and gold hues. These tiles are beautifully iridized, imparting the glass with strong luminosity. The patinated bronze surfaces of the base display an exceptionally rich and vibrant russet brown and green patina. The bronze surfaces show minimal surface wear and light rubbing consistent with age and gentle use. The bronze elements articulating the Arrowheads, which were cast and applied to the base in sections, show two very small and minor seam separations (inherent in the making and entirely stable). This base was originally designed as an oil lamp and was converted in the period to electricity. The three sockets and paddle switches appear to be old replacements, possibly from the period. The sockets cluster and shade arms with surface wear and discoloration consistent with age and use. This lamp is of great historical importance, as it represents one of Tiffany’s earliest explorations with the Dragonfly motif in their lamp shade designs. The shade displays a highly artistic selection of Tiffany’s earliest and most experimental glass. Each tile shows strong artistic nuance, which imparts the shade with tremendous visual interest, movement and depth. The aquatic color palette of the shade is beautifully complemented in the mosaic glass selection of the base, and the lamp presents as a harmonious artistic statement.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

From its seminal years in the early 1890s, the stylistic evolution of Tiffany’s lamps was marked by a major advancement in 1898, the year after Clara Driscoll returned for her third tour at the Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company and assumed the management of its Women’s Glass Cutting Department.  Driscoll’s return inspired a revolution in the firm’s lighting designs, by which point an in-house foundry had been put into operation to cast lamp bases and supplementary components.  Novel forms, techniques and materials were introduced that transformed the medium. 

The Dragonfly was one of the firm’s earliest recorded lampshade designs, and the model offered here, showing Dragonflies flying amidst marsh flowers, likely represents the firm’s earliest exploration of the motif.  The model was designed by Clara Driscoll in late 1898 or early 1899, and was identified as the “Dragonfly and Waterflowers” design.  It was likely the precursor to the firm’s vast array of lampshades of varying sizes and configurations incorporating the Dragonfly theme.  The “Dragonfly and Waterflowers” model was illustrated in a catalogue published by the firm in 1899 entitled Lamps and Fixtures, and that same year was included in the famous exhibit of Tiffany’s works organized by Siegfried Bing at Grafton Galleries in London from May-July 1899.  The following year, in April 1900, an article published in The House Beautiful makes reference to Tiffany’s latest advancements in electrical fixtures, citing, “A dragon-fly design is of richly colored leaded glass, with large dragon-flies and water-flowers.”  The design was still in production in 1906, as it is recorded in the firm’s Price List of that year, identified as model number 1467, “16 in. Dragonfly and water flowers design,” and priced at $90.00.

The present example is a variant of the production model of the Dragonfly and Waterflowers lampshade, and is feasibly an early experimental precursor to the model.  Four examples of the standard model are presently known that are made from the same pattern, incorporate a fairly consistent glass selection, and are appointed with the same filigree templates and ring beading.  One example was recently acquired by Corning Museum of Glass, another was formerly in the Louis C. Tiffany Garden Museum Collection, Japan, and two others remain in private collections.  The lampshade offered here displays several key deviations.  First, it was made from a different, more elaborate design that required the cutting of approximately 50-60 additional pieces of glass, most notably in the complex pattern of the Dragonfly wings.  Second, the hole pattern in the filigree wing overlays is more compact than in the production model, allowing for less light to penetrate the shade from within.  The top ring beading also incorporates balls of smaller diameter.  It is possible that these elements were refined in the production model, both in an effort to create a more simplified, cohesive pictorial design and to reduce production costs.  The glass selection in the present shade, comprising a wide variety of the firm’s earliest experimental favrile glass, is consistent with its early manufacture. 

When the present lot was offered in an early Sotheby’s Monaco auction in 1981, it was paired with an early fuel-canister base comprising a spherical blown glass body housed on a bronze mount decorated with a bed of lily pads, the same unit that is documented in the firm’s 1899 catalogue.  Shortly thereafter, the shade was paired with the present “Arrowhead” base, one of the firm’s most captivating early base designs embellished with resplendent favrile mosaic glass tesserae.  This lamp represents an historically and stylistically significant moment in Tiffany's development of lighting designs.

The present lot is accompanied by a letter of authentication by Paul Crist.