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Lot Essay
The “Dragonfly” is one of Tiffany Studios' earliest recorded lampshade designs: designed by Clara Driscoll, it made its debut in Siegfried Bing’s 1899 exhibition L’Art Nouveau at the Grafton Gallery in London, identified as a “Dragon-fly design,” presented on a blown glass base, and illustrated in Tiffany Studios 1899 catalogue Lamps and Fixtures. In April 1900, an article in The House Beautiful celebrated Tiffany’s latest development in combining metal with Favrile glass and their advancement in the manufacture of electrical fixtures: “Metal and glass are twin products of fire, and their joint use is very appropriate. A dragon-fly design is of richly colored leaded glass, with large dragon-flies and water-flowers.”
In 1904, a “Dragonfly and Waterflowers” shade appears illustrated on a mosaic glass base, described as “Mrs. Driscoll’s Paris Prize Dragon Fly Lamp.” Driscoll was the head of the Women's Glass Cutting Department at Tiffany Studios and worked there for seventeen years. In an article from April 17, 1904, she was highlighted in The New York Daily News as one of the few American women who earned $10,000 or more per year. She references the design in her letter: “This Dragonfly lamp is an idea that I had last summer and which Alice [Gouvy] worked out on a plaster mould. . . After she had made the drawing on this plaster mould I took it in hand and we worked and worked on it till the cost built up at such a rate that they had to mark it $250.00 when it was finished and everybody, even Mr. Belknap, thought it was impractical on account of the cost, but. . . then Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Belknap said—It is very original and makes talk, so perhaps it is not a bad investment. Then Mr. Tiffany got wind and came down and said it was the most interesting lamp in the place and then a rich woman bought it and then Mr. Tiffany said she couldn’t have it, he wanted it to go to London and have another one made for her and one to go to Paris.”
The “Dragonfly and Waterflowers” design was still in production in 1906, identified as “model 1467, 16 in. Dragonfly and water flowers design” and priced at $90 in the 1906 Price List. Less than five examples of the model are known to exist, including an example on a blown glass base in the collection of the Corning Museum of Glass, New York (inv. 2013.4.4).
This rare “Dragonfly and Waterflowers” shade on a spectacular “Dragonfly” mosaic base, is a stunning example of a significant turning point in the history of Tiffany Studios.
In 1904, a “Dragonfly and Waterflowers” shade appears illustrated on a mosaic glass base, described as “Mrs. Driscoll’s Paris Prize Dragon Fly Lamp.” Driscoll was the head of the Women's Glass Cutting Department at Tiffany Studios and worked there for seventeen years. In an article from April 17, 1904, she was highlighted in The New York Daily News as one of the few American women who earned $10,000 or more per year. She references the design in her letter: “This Dragonfly lamp is an idea that I had last summer and which Alice [Gouvy] worked out on a plaster mould. . . After she had made the drawing on this plaster mould I took it in hand and we worked and worked on it till the cost built up at such a rate that they had to mark it $250.00 when it was finished and everybody, even Mr. Belknap, thought it was impractical on account of the cost, but. . . then Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Belknap said—It is very original and makes talk, so perhaps it is not a bad investment. Then Mr. Tiffany got wind and came down and said it was the most interesting lamp in the place and then a rich woman bought it and then Mr. Tiffany said she couldn’t have it, he wanted it to go to London and have another one made for her and one to go to Paris.”
The “Dragonfly and Waterflowers” design was still in production in 1906, identified as “model 1467, 16 in. Dragonfly and water flowers design” and priced at $90 in the 1906 Price List. Less than five examples of the model are known to exist, including an example on a blown glass base in the collection of the Corning Museum of Glass, New York (inv. 2013.4.4).
This rare “Dragonfly and Waterflowers” shade on a spectacular “Dragonfly” mosaic base, is a stunning example of a significant turning point in the history of Tiffany Studios.