TIFFANY STUDIOS | A RARE "SWIRLING DRAGONFLY” CHANDELIER

Private Collection, Detroit

Acquired from the above by the present owner, circa 1970s

William Feldstein, Jr. and Alastair Duncan, The Lamps of Tiffany Studios, New York, 1983, p. 179

Janet Zapata, The Jewelry and Enamels of Louis Comfort Tiffany, New York, 1993, p. 11

Alastair Duncan, Tiffany Lamps and Metalware, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2007, pp. 220 and 232, no. 897

Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Louis Comfort Tiffany at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1998, p. 70 (for a watercolor study of the model)

Martin Eidelberg, Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Nancy A. McClelland and Lars Rachen, The Lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany, New York, 2005, pp. 69 (for the above mentioned watercolor study) and 190-191

The present lot is an early example of one of the Tiffany firm’s most dynamic iterations on the dragonfly subject—the “Swirling Dragonfly” shade. This example, an early example of this exceedingly rare model, is further distinguished by its original fringe border of patinated metal balls suspended from beaded chains of alternating lengths. The firm offered such embellishments to their lighting designs, which in this case greatly enhances the dynamic quality of the shade, creating a harmonious visual continuation of the beaded border. Even more distinguishing, the present shade is punctuated throughout with highly tactile and irregular chipped favrile glass jewels. These chipped jewels are synonymous with Tiffany’s earliest works, and were used to great effect in imparting their lighting designs with a Moorish influence. The overall effect is a dazzling display of dragonflies swirling fancifully around the perimeter of the shade, further enhanced by the dynamic fringe border.