Important Table Lamp by Tiffany Studios Gets High Estimate at Sotheby’s
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An important and rare “Fish And Waves” table lamp by Tiffany Studios will be offered for sale at Sotheby’s upcoming auction, “Dreaming In Glass: Masterworks By Tiffany Studios” on May 23, 2019, in New York. The pre-auction estimate of the present laImportant Table Lamp by Tiffany Studios Gets High Estimate at Sotheby’s
An important and rare “Fish And Waves” table lamp by Tiffany Studios will be offered for sale at Sotheby’s upcoming auction, “Dreaming In Glass: Masterworks By Tiffany Studios” on May 23, 2019, in New York. The pre-auction estimate of the present lamp is 1,000,000 — 1,500,000 USD and it will be featured in lot 214 at the auction. “The magnificent ‘Fish and Waves’ lamp integrates two of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s greatest passions: the natural world and Japanese aesthetics. The motif of fish swimming in water was one that Tiffany explored in some of his most important early landscape and figural windows, but it was seldomly seen within the firm’s leaded glass shades. The technical ingenuity of the spherical shade composition and vivid, aquatic glass selection distinguish this lamp as a masterwork of Tiffany’s earliest explorations in leaded glass,” the auction house adds. “The shade depicts nine goldfish swimming amidst seaweed within the swirling currents of sun-dappled water. The complementary sculptural base depicts three large fish leaping through waves in high relief. Distinct from the firm’s production lamps, which typically display repetitive passages in the leaded glass patterns in each shade design, ‘Fish and Waves’ presents a distinct, non-repeating pictorial composition around the shade circumference. This lamp is the only known example of this highly evocative and complex leaded glass design, most likely representing a unique commission in the period.” The present lamp is made of leaded glass, patinated bronze and at its base is impressed ‘Tiffany Studios/NEW YORK/25874’ with the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company monogram. The lamp has been attributed to Clara Driscoll. It was created circa 1900-1903. The lamp was formerly owned by Lillian Nassau, New York; Mr. Raymond Amy; William Doyle Galleries, 1974; Private Collection, New York; Collection of John and Katsy Mecom, Houston, Texas and subsequently acquired by the present owner. Sotheby’s further commented that the Tiffany Studios lamp, “with its base ornamented with a design of swirling water and leaping fish, and its leaded glass sphere depicting fish swimming among seaweed, represents the strong resurgence of interest in studying Nature at the turn of the century. But underlying it all are the lessons learnt from having earlier studied Japanese art. It also represents an early moment in Tiffany Studios’ creation of table lamps. Indeed, the very concept of creating a table lamp with a bronze base and a leaded glass shade was relatively new, having been developed in the late 1890s by Clara Driscoll, the head of the Women’s Glass Cutting Division at Tiffany Studios. While not Driscoll’s first design for a lamp with a leaded shade, this exciting lamp belongs to the same creative period. The impressed marks on the underside of the base testify to its date around the turn of the century.” https://www.blouinartinfo.comFounder: Louise Blouin Read more