Lamp with Hanging Head Dragonfly Shade and Mosaic and Turtleback Base

Description

In the 1890s Louis Comfort Tiffany began using his opalescent Favrile glass to produce lamps, the decorative form for which he would become most famous. As the artistic director of Tiffany Studios located in Corona, New York, he approved all patterns but created relatively few lamps himself. Clara Driscoll, head of the Women’s Glass Cutting Department, was likely responsible for this shade and base. Driscoll began working for Tiffany in 1888, and she designed the majority of the firm’s lamps before she left the company in 1908 or 1909. Driscoll created at least eight dragonfly shades. This example is distinguished by its large size, glass cabochons, and the placement of insects’ bodies along the lower edge. While Tiffany Studios mass-produced these shades and bases, the firm varied the color scheme of each object to heighten the sense of handcraftsmanship. This daring design became one of Tiffany’s most popular and was made through 1924.

Provenance

Jeffrey Thier, Buffalo, New York; sold to D. Leonard and Gerry Trent, New York, New York, c. 1981. Joel Schur, Greenwich, CT; sold, Christie's New York, "Important Art Nouveau, The Joel Schur Collection," December 14, 1985, lot 18. Gary Wexler; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2006.

Lamp with Hanging Head Dragonfly Shade and Mosaic and Turtleback Base

Clara Driscoll

By 1906

Accession Number

185905

Medium

Favrile glass and bronze

Dimensions

86.4 × 57.2 cm (34 × 22 1/2 in.)

Classification

lamp (lighting device)

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Roger and J. Peter McCormick Endowments, Robert Allerton Purchase Fund, Goodman Endowment for the Collection of the Friends of American Art, Pauline S. Armstrong Endowment, Edward E. Ayer Endowment in memory of Charles L. Hutchinson; purchased with funds provided by the Antiquarian Society in memory of Helen Richman Gilbert and Lena Turnbull Gilbert, Sandra van den Broek, Mr. and Mrs. Henry M. Buchbinder, Quinn E. Delaney, Mr. and Mrs. Wesley M. Dixon, Jamee J. and Marshall Field, Celia and David Hilliard, Elizabeth Souder Louis, Mrs. Herbert A. Vance, and Mr. and Mrs. Morris S. Weeden