This exceptional original Tiffany Studios Dragonfly Table Lamp pairs one of Tiffany Studios’ most iconic leaded glass shades with a rare early lamp base featuring the original blown Tiffany Favrile Glass.
With its finely detailed wings and naturally iridescent body, the dragonfly was a major source of inspiration for Louis Comfort Tiffany, Clara Driscoll, and the designers at Tiffany Studios. The first Tiffany lamp featuring the insect, a Dragonflies and Water Lilies lamp now in the collection of the Corning Museum of Glass, was designed by Driscoll in the late 1890s for an exhibition held at the Grafton Galleries in London. The design proved immensely popular among both critics and Tiffany’s clientele and the motif was adapted into leaded glass shades in a variety of shapes and sizes.
In this fine example of the conical 16-inch Dragonfly shade, a series of cornflower blue dragonflies, their pale purple wings mounted with delicate filigree, hover above a background of translucent “streaky” glass representing a pool of water, shifting in opacity and tone through shades of blue, lavender and green. The eyes of the dragonflies are formed by rounded Tiffany Glass jewels in a deeper shade of blue.
The spectacular shade is paired with a rare early lamp base featuring Tiffany Favrile Glass which was blown through a rounded reticulated bronze structure to create a pillowed effect. The bronze features unusual organic patterned decoration, while the rich green shade of the glass used in the base harmonizes with the glass selection in the shade.
Both the shade and base of this rare authentic Tiffany Lamp are signed.
Height: 23 inches (58.4 cm)
Diameter: 16 inches (40.6 cm)