Description
A warm and wonderful Art Nouveau Tiffany Studios table lamp, circa 1910
The stained glass Tiffany Studios shade emits vibrant orange and yellow glow from the monochromatic panels of glass. The pattered acorns with geometric surrounding glass sit on top of a 3 light cluster. Cluster looks to be original with pull chains. The bronze colonial Tiffany Studios base a beautiful original brown patina. Base signed “TIFFANY STUDIOS NEW YORK 534”. The shade is not signed.
Provenance: Shade verified by Tom Wester of Tome Wester Galleries and by Nick Dawes from Antiques Roadshow and Heritage Galleries.
Measures: Shade diameter 16 inches Lamp height 19.5 inches
Condition: Shade with 5-6 tight heat cracked panels. Some losses and scratches to patina of shade and base Commensurate or age and use.
Tiffany glass refers to the many and varied types of glass developed and produced from 1878-1933 at the Tiffany Studios in New York, by Louis Comfort Tiffany and a team of other designers, including Frederick Wilson and Clara Driscoll. In 1865, Tiffany traveled to Europe, and in London he visited the Victoria and Albert Museum, whose extensive collection of Roman and Syrian glass made a deep impression on him. He admired the coloration of medieval glass and was convinced that the quality of contemporary glass could be improved upon.
In his own words, the “Rich tones are due in part to the use of pot metal full of impurities, and in part to the uneven thickness of the glass, but still more because the glass maker of that day abstained from the use of paint”. Tiffany was an interior designer, and in 1878 his interest turned towards the creation of stained glass, when he opened his own studio and glass foundry because he was unable to find the types of glass that he desired in interior decoration. His inventiveness both as a designer of windows and as a producer of the material with which to create them was to become renowned.
Tiffany wanted the glass itself to transmit texture and rich colors and he developed a type of glass he called “Favrile”. The glass was manufactured at the Tiffany factory located at 96-18 43rd Avenue in the Corona section of Queens from 1901-1932.
