This original Tiffany Lamp features an exceptional example of the 22-inch diameter Peony Shade. Under Louis Comfort Tiffany’s direction, Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls designed a series of leaded glass shades for Tiffany Lamps depicting peonies ranging in shape and size from 18 to 28 inches in diameter.
This example depicts peonies in various stages of development from bud to blossom in shades ranging from burgundy red through deep magenta and variegated pink to creamy white. The flowers incorporate different types of Tiffany Glass, including streaky and mottled glass, and features the rare inclusion of drapery glass for the petals of two red peonies. The flowers stand out against a background of carefully arranged streaky Tiffany Glass, ranging from deep indigo near the crown of the shade to a softer shade of blue near the lower edge, with dramatically streaked inclusions of purple, pink, blue and green throughout.
This exceptional Peony Shade is paired with an original bronze Louis XIV Table Base in rich brown patina, with openwork detailing and highly detailed ornamentation.
Both the shade and base of this authentic Tiffany Lamp are signed.
The original hand-drawn and colored cartoon for Tiffany Studios’ 22-inch diameter Peony Shade seen here is in the permanent collection of the New-York Historical Society (accession no. 2007.4.8).
Louis Comfort Tiffany often incorporated Peony blooms into his artistic works, including an early series of pictorial leaded glass windows depicting vases overflowing with peonies, based on one of his oil paintings. The flower also appears in a number of landscape windows for domestic interiors likely designed by Agnes Northrop, including a monumental landscape window recently acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Diameter: 22 inches (55.88 cm)
Height: 32 inches (81.3 cm)