This example of Tiffany’s Daffodil Lamp features exceptional glass selection: each of the daffodil blossoms which encircle the shade is articulated in mottled yellow Tiffany glass in a variety of opacity levels, with the mottled glass used for the trumpets of the flowers carefully selected to offer a three-dimensional effect when light is transmitted through the shade. The golden flowers contrast with the spiky stems and leaves formed by mottled glass in various shades of green blue which sprout from the top of the shade. The background glass is interspersed with blue glass, which is accented by thin border rows at the crown and lower edge of the shade.
This Daffodil shade rests on a gilt bronze Twisted Vine Table Base, one of the most evocative naturalistic lamp bases produced by Tiffany Studios. This sculptural base is highly sought after by modern collectors of Tiffany lamps.
An example of this pairing is in the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2018.579a–c).
Both the shade and base of this exceptional original Tiffany lamp are signed.
The cheery yellow Daffodil blossom held particular sway over Louis Comfort Tiffany, who incorporated the iconic blossom into a variety of designs for Tiffany Lamps; the company produced over a dozen distinct shades which depict the Daffodil flower, more than any other individual bloom in the Tiffany Studios catalogue.
Several sketches and photographic studies for the Daffodil Tiffany Lamps done by Clara Driscoll and the “Tiffany Girls” survive in the collections of the New-York Historical Society and the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art in Winter Park, Florida.
Diameter: 20 inches (50.8 cm)
Height: 25 ½ inches (64.8 cm)