Tiffany Studios

Alastair Duncan, Tiffany at Auction, New York, 1981, p. 70, no. 191

Jacob Baal-Teshuva, Louis Comfort Tiffany, New York, 2001, pp. 143 and 318

Alastair Duncan, Tiffany Lamps and Metalware, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2019, p. 90, no. 346

This remarkable Seven-Light ‘Lily’ table lamp celebrates Freddie’s love of the Art Nouveau style. It was produced by Tiffany Studios, the celebrated American firm founded by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), who designed and manufactured exquisite works in glass of unrivalled beauty, technical innovation and craftsmanship. His designs owe a debt to the natural world and the techniques employed by the firm in their glass production drew on historic periods, such as Syrian, Roman and Medieval.

From its introduction at the 1902 Prima Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte Decorativa Moderna in Turin, Italy, the Eighteen-Light ‘Lily’ table lamp was one of Tiffany Studios’ most celebrated lamp models. The exhibition prompted designers to create functional objects 'that show a decisive tendency toward aesthetic renewal of form.' In Tiffany’s case, the ‘Lily’ demonstrated both aesthetic and technical renewal as one of the firm’s first electrified lamps. The delicately arched stems accommodated thin electrical wires, threaded up to the sockets; they also enabled the bulbs and decorated shades to be suspended vertically, mimicking the organic downturn of the flowers and cleverly casting warm light. The lamp’s innovation and beauty earned Tiffany the grand prix in Turin, and its continuing popularity encouraged the creation of 12, 10, seven and three-light variations.