Lot 10
  • 10

Tiffany Studios

Estimate
300,000 - 500,000 USD
Log in to view results
bidding is closed

Description

  • Tiffany Studios
  • An Important and Rare "Pebble" Table Lamp
  • oil font stamped Tiffany Studios/New York/21550 with the Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company monogram
  • leaded and bezel-set stone, leaded glass, favrile glass, and patinated bronze
with a rare "Pumpkin" base with pebble decoration

Provenance

Macklowe Gallery, New York

Literature

For related examples of this model see:
William Feldstein, Jr., and Alastair Duncan, The Lamps of Tiffany Studios, New York, 1983, pp. 96-97
Jacob Baal-Teshuva, Louis Comfort Tiffany, New York, 2001, p. 221
Alastair Duncan, Louis C. Tiffany: The Garden Museum Collection, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2004, p. 319
Martin Eidelberg, Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Nancy A. McClelland and Lars Rachen, The Lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany, New York, 2005, p. 15
Alastair Duncan, Tiffany Lamps and Metalware, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2007, pp. 42 and 140

Condition

Very good overall condition. All of the pebbles in the shade and base appear to be intact and undisturbed, with a few occasional tight hairline fractures to the stones. The shade armature retains a rich brown patina with scattered traces of oxidation consistent with age. The bronze elements of the base with very gentle rubbing to the patina. The apple-green blown glass base is in remarkably good condition, with only a few very minor surface imperfections to the blown glass inherent in the making. The lamp was converted for use with electricity. With a replaced clear glass chimney (not illustrated in the catalogue illustration.) A superb example of this exceedingly rare lamp model. The lamp presents beautifully, and appears incredibly tactile and radiant when experienced in person.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

The design for this lamp was introduced by the Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company in the late 1890s, around the time that a series of panels with similar pebbled compositions made their debut. Two contemporary magazine articles establish this time line. The first, by Cecilia Waern, included illustrations of two pebbled panels ("The Industrial Arts of America: The Tiffany Glass and Decorating Co.," The Studio, vol. 11, September 1897, pp. 161 and 165).  The second featured a review of Tiffany's exhibit in 1899 at the Grafton Galleries, London, in which the critic, Horace Townsend, wrote "Anything that is beautiful in itself Mr. Tiffany presses into service as decoration. Translucent pebbles in some cases sawn into slabs, in others used as they come to us wave-worn from the sea-beach, take the place of glass, in some instances with an excellent effect" ("American and French Applied Art at the Grafton Galleries," International Studio, vol. 8, 1899, p. 43).

The shade on the present lot is unsigned, indicating that it was made prior to 1903-1904, at which time the firm introduced a standardized four-digit list of its lamp and metalware products that it published in a 1906 price list. In this, the shade was identified as "No. 1459, 16-inch Pebble, dome, $100." The manner of the double signature on the lamp's fuel canister, impressed with both a Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company monogram and a Tiffany Studios New York tag, narrows its year of manufacture further to 1900-1902, the period during which the firm continued to apply its early monogram to many of its products after it had changed its corporate name (in 1900) to Tiffany Studios. In the 1906 price list, the base model was identified as "No. 214, Pumpkin, pebble decoration, with 16 inch pebble shade, $75."

The shade is comprised of irregular bands of flowerheads that diminish in size as they ascend, each with pebbled petals and a chiseled glass center, and pierced at the corners with tiny holes that serve both to emit the hot air generated by the light bulb and to provide a novel sparkling effect as the viewer shifts his or her position. Below the top aperture, where  the diminishing scale of the design precludes the further use of pebbles as they become too small to be wrapped in copper foil in the conventional method of lampshade assembly, they were replaced by flowerheads comprised of tiny glass petals, likewise with faceted glass centers that act as prisms to disperse the light. Examination of these miniature floral compositions reveals that they, like the pebbles, were too small to be wrapped in copper foil, so special matrices were devised into which the individual glass petals within each flower were inserted and then secured when the foiled seams on the shade were later soldered together.

The astonishing attention to detail in the shade implies that its design was conceived during the initial flush of success in the firm's promotion of a market for its line of leaded glass lampshades and the immediate realization of their innate beauty and broad commercial appeal. Clearly, experimentation trumped cost effectiveness in the creation of this model, not least in the time expended in the selection-the gathering and grading by surface color, size and luminescence-of the pebbles. Then there is the labor-intensive and microscopic detailing of the shade's upper network of flowerheads, necessitating a jeweler's deft hand in their virtuoso execution. Whether intended or not, the pebble shade was destined to become a serious luxury item rather than one to be put into serial production, which explains why less than five of the model are today known to exist.

The "Pumpkin" base model was designed in the late 1890s, the need to house a fuel canister dictating its bulbous form. The resulting broad expanse of surfaces on its bronze upper collar and foot invited a lavish form of ornamentation, in this case a compact mediaeval pattern incorporating rope-twist, quatrefoil and beaded motifs. To these were added an undulating band of individual pebbles, each secured within its bezel mount by a row of tiny prongs, that serve to complement, and thereby unite, the base with its shade. 

This important offering presents the collecting community with a rare opportunity to acquire one of Tiffany Studios' most exquisite and celebrated masterworks.