This original Tiffany Lamp features a 14-inch diameter example of the Dragonfly Shade. The dragonfly has become one of the most iconic motifs associated with Tiffany Studios. The first Tiffany Dragonfly Lamp was designed in the spring of 1899 by Clara Driscoll. As Tiffany Studios began to expand production, the Dragonfly motif was adapted into a series of shades for lamps in a variety of sizes, shapes and configurations; this 14-inch diameter model was the smallest Dragonfly shade offered.
This example of the shade features a series of downward facing dragonflies, their bodies formed by Tiffany Glass which shifts from green near the tail through yellow to light orange for the heads and eyes; the wings, in variegated orange glass with hints of green throughout, are mounted with pierced metal filigree. Pressed rounded Tiffany Glass jewels in shades of orange and green are scattered around the dragonflies along the lower edge of the shade.
This Dragonfly shade is paired with an original Inverted Mushroom base. Both the shade and base of this authentic Tiffany Lamp are signed.
Diameter: 14 inches (35.6 cm)
Height: 18 ⅜ inches (46.7 cm)
References:
Martin Eidelberg, Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Nancy A. McClelland and Lars Rachen, "The Lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany," New York, 2005, p. 194
Martin Eidelberg, Nina Gray and Margaret K. Hofer, "A New Light on Tiffany: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls," exh. cat., New York Historical Society, 2007, p. 67