Tiffany Studios

Lillian Nassau, New York

The Collection of Burt Sugarman, Los Angeles, CA

Highly Important Tiffany, The Burt Sugarman Collection, Christie's New York, March 30, 1985, lot 4

The Warshawsky Collection

The Warshawsky Collection: Masterworks of Tiffany and Prewar Design, Sotheby's New York, May 19, 2015, lot 69

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Margaret K. Hofer and Rebecca Klassen, The Lamps of Tiffany Studios: Nature Illuminated, New York, 2016, p. 105 (for the shade)

Alastair Duncan, Tiffany Lamps and Metalware, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2019, p. 228, no. 891 and 225, no. 894 and 896 (for the shade); 224, no. 877 and 225, no. 878 (for the base)

The natural world offered Louis Comfort Tiffany's glassmakers an abundance of opportunities to experiment with color and the transmission of light through glass as they created each floral shade. The peony blossom, with its extraordinary lushness and variation in color palette, was a particularly prime subject for Tiffany’s leaded glass shades. Beyond its innate beauty, the peony had great cultural and symbolic appeal. A popular motif in Asian art, which Tiffany revered and was an important source of inspiration in his work, the peony was thought to signify strength and was considered the “King of Flowers.”

The present “Peony Border” Floor Lamp is an exquisite example of the model with a nuanced glass selection and jubilant spring palette. The poppies are depicted in various stages of bloom in some shades of red, rose and pink surrounded by verdant green foliage. The flowers appear beautifully sun-dappled, unfurling their petals below a perfect sky of green, amber and red- streaked powder blue, cerulean and periwinkle. Situated on a “Scroll” senior floor base and topped with a “Pig Tail” finial, the shade has incredible visual presence. Its grand scale and complex leaded glass composition make this lot a truly exquisite example of Tiffany’s artistry.