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Tiffany Studios New York "Nautilus" Table Lamp With "Mermaid" Base
SOLD
Featured on this Tiffany Studios New York "Nautilus" table lamp is an exceptional example of Louis Comfort Tiffany's highly-collectible and specially-patented shell designs. When Tiffany conceived the "Nautilus" as his first lamp designed for electric light, he intended it for purely decorative purposes. The shell would modulate the light much as his Favrile glass shades, warming the light and making it more like the gas lighting to which people were accustomed. Tiffany's "Nautilus" models with sculpted bases are rare and particularly desirable. The shell sits atop a patinated bronze "Mermaid" base that was designed by the famed American sculptor, Louis A. Gudebrod for Tiffany Studios New York.
- Product Details
- Curator's Notes
Item #: L-21155
Artist: Tiffany Studios New York
Country: United States
Circa: 1900
Dimensions: 15.75" height, 4.75" width, 8" deep
Materials: Nautilus Shell, Bronze
Base Signed: Tiffany Studios New York 943
The shape of the exotic nautilus, found in the western Pacific, has long been the muse of architects, artists, and designers. One only has to look to Grecian columns, to spiral staircases, or to the nautilus cups of the sixteenth century for examples. Louis Comfort Tiffany's glass interpretation of the "Nautilus" shell design was first displayed at the Paris Exposition Universelle 1900, where he was displaying the best lamps that he had to offer. By bringing this intricate and difficult-to-make model to the World's Fair, Tiffany was showing the international design world just how well-made and beautiful a Tiffany Studios New York lamp could be.