Tiffany Studios

Private Collection, New Jersey, circa late 1960s
Thence by descent to 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, exh. cat., 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 Studios’ extensive body of work, but also as a design icon of the 20th Century. Designed in 1901 by the head of the Women’s Glass Cutters Department Clara Driscoll, the shade’s conventionalized floral forms and naturalistic coloration demonstrate the influence of Impressionism and Japonesque aesthetics that were popular at the time. Known as the “blue vine” in Japan, the wisteria was introduced to the United States in the mid-nineteenth century, where it blossomed in popularity and made its way to Louis Comfort Tiffany’s Long Island estate Laurelton Hall. Its translation into a leaded glass shade demonstrates the incredible artistry and craftsmanship of Tiffany Studios. 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 in late 1902 to early 1903. The present shade displays the earliest variety of the glass pattern and further the shade and “Tree” base are not impressed with a work order number, four or five-digit sequences which were used when the firm produced Wisteria lamps in small batches from late 1901 through 1905. This underscores the present lamp’s rarity as a very early and experimental example of the model, executed before the firm had committed to creating in volume what would eventually become one of its best-selling lamps. 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.