Tiffany dragonfly Table Lamp

Tiffany Dragonfly glass lamp shade with Tiffany bronze table base. Believed to be the lamp in a photograph of Laurelton Hall, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s home. Lamp height: 31 inches; Shade diameter: 22 inches. This is one of the most sought after lamp designs Tiffany produced. Somewhat understated as far as the more elaborate glass one thinks of looking at Tiffany works, Louis C Tiffany creator of Tiffany Studios preferred more simplified pieces with earth tones for his home, Laurelton Hall in Oyster Bay, Long Island (where it is believed this lamp was situated until it was removed shortly after the fire that destroyed much of the home and grounds). Referred to as a “Hanging Head Dragonfly" because of the irregular border of the shade together with earth tone glass, highlighted by multi-colored orange/red, caramel and amber jewels, this lamp complimented Tiffany's love of nature and the high quality and rare objects he selected to surround himself with at home. The design of the bronze lamp base, which is reticulated (open work) has a gold dore patina. Tiffany Dragonfly lamps are the most popular lamps Tiffany produced. Large size examples such as this (22") are rare. The fact that a lamp of this design is illustrated in a period photograph* of Tiffany's home in Oyster Bay in a room with “The Bathers,” perhaps his most important stained glass window and one of his most treasured creations, makes this lamp rare and highly sought after. It has been in a private collection in New York for the past several years. Condition is excellent; both shade and base are signed and numbered. The shade bears the marking “Tiffany Studios NY 1507” impressed in the leading on the inside of the shade. The bronze base bears the marking “Tiffany Studios NY 549” on the underside of the outer rim at the bottom of the base. (* See “Tiffany Windows – the Indispensable Book on Louis C.Tiffany’s Masterworks” by Alastair Duncan, p. 161)