Table lamp, Lily cluster lamp,

1902

For the electrified Lily cluster table lamp, Louis Comfort Tiffany made ten patinated bronze flower stems grow up from lily pads arranged in a circle as the base. They push up energetically from the middle and encircle with their sepal leaves the staggered group of glass calyxes. As lamp shades, the lily blooms filled their function in downright decadent profusion, exuding an air of luxury and good taste. The lamp was produced in variations featuring from three to twenty lampshades, and also as a floor lamp. The glass components were blown in a metal mold and finished by hand. For the original model with eighteen lampshades, Tiffany received the Grand Prix at the First International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Art in Turin in 1902. After studying painting, Louis Comfort Tiffany—the eldest son and heir of the jeweler Charles L. Tiffany—began in the mid-1870s to try his hand at making large glass windows. Based on his experience painting their glass surfaces, he then developed after long years of experimentation his Tiffany favrile glass. This patented method, which chemists and seasoned glass technicians helped Tiffany to invent, involves adding minerals and metallic oxides to the molten glass, resulting in an opalescent glass with iridescent surface. The rainbow effect ideally spoke to the zeitgeist, bringing the company its financial breakthrough. (Sabine Flaschberger)