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Early "Nasturtium" Trellis Hanging Shade

Creator: Tiffany Studios
Offered by: Lillian Nassau LLC

Description
The Nasturtium Trellis Hanging Shade is one of the rare Tiffany Lamps in which the floral motif was designed as a continuous composition encircling the shade with no repeats.

This hanging Tiffany Lamp also cleverly utilizes the structure of the shade as a compositional device: the supports at the vertical intersections of each panel have been transformed into the vertical bars of a garden trellis, with five horizontal rows, all formed by large rectangular pieces of translucent green glass.

This outstanding early example of the shade incorporates exceptional Tiffany Glass. Nasturtium flowers, vines and leaves spill organically across the rigidly symmetrical structure of the trellis, cascading over and through the rectilinear bars and hanging down naturalistically over the lower edge between the overhanging ends of the trellis. Each individual bud and blossom is formed from a distinct selection of glass ranging from rippled yellow to vibrant orange to mottled magenta. The characteristic coiling stems and large leaves of the plant are formed by variegated green glass with occasional inclusions of orange, yellow and pink, hinting at the profusion of flowers. The background glass used throughout the shade ranges from deeply saturated dark blue glass with heavy mottling and hints of green and orange, to dramatic “streaky” glass in which green, blue, pink and purple have been gesturally swirled together.

Louis Comfort Tiffany was particularly enamored with the Nasturtium flower, often instructing the artists at Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company and Tiffany Studios to incorporate the flowers into their designs. One of the earliest known leaded glass shades designed by Clara Driscoll for a Tiffany Lamp was a 16-inch diameter Nasturtium Shade with lattice and irregular lower edge, an example of which is on view in the New-York Historical Society’s Gallery of Tiffany Lamps; this hanging shade model was likely adapted from that initial design by Driscoll.

References: Martin Eidelberg, Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Nancy A. McClelland and Lars Rachen, The Lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany, New York, 2005, pp. 124-125

More Information

Documentation:	Signed
Origin:	United States, New York
Period:	1900-1919
Materials:	Leaded glass and bronze
Creation Date:	circa 1902-0-4
Styles / Movements:	Modern
Incollect Reference #:	750046

Dimensions

Diam.	26.75 in;
Diam.	67.95 cm;

Message from Seller:

Specializing in the work of Tiffany Studios and Louis Comfort Tiffany, including Tiffany Lamps, Favrile Glass, Favrile Pottery, Mosaics, Windows, Metalwork and more.