Tiffany Studios New York "Oriental Poppy” Leaded Glass and Bronze Floor Lamp
This Tiffany Studios New York "Oriental Poppy" leaded glass and patinated bronze floor lamp was designed circa 1913. Surmounted by a bronze cap with hogtail finial and geometric piercing, this shade depicts a profusion of deep red and crimson poppies with intense blue centers and hints of amber pollen on a blue green ground of foliage and blue sky streaked with cloud, while the lower rim is bounded by a high relief rippled green glass border. The poppies are depicted in various stages of development from seed pods, to buds on the verge of opening, to blossoms in full flower, and the effect is realized by the use of mottled, streaked and granite glass in a range of painstakingly chosen hues, tones and degrees of intensity and transparency, resulting in the powerful evocation of a three-dimensional naturalism. The shade is raised on three lion’s paw arms atop a patinated bronze "Chased Pod Senior" floor base. The lamp is a tour-de-force creation reflecting the combined vision of Louis Tiffany and his women collaborators, working together to express ideals of naturalism and impressionism through the decorative arts.
For an extensive dossier on this piece, please visit From our study
- Product Details
- Curator's Notes
Item #: L-20374
Artist: Tiffany Studios New York
Country: United States
Circa: 1913
Dimensions: 26.50” diameter, 77.00” high
Materials: Leaded Glass, Bronze
Shade signed: ''Tiffany Studios New York 1902 ''
Base signed: ''Tiffany Studios New York 27396’’
Literature: Dr. Egon Neustadt, The Lamps of Tiffany, New York, 1970, pp. 36 (for the shade and base) and 161 (for the shade)
William Feldstein, Jr. and Alastair Duncan, The Lamps of Tiffany Studios, New York, 1983, pp. 18-19 and 52-53 (for the shade)
Robert Koch, Louis C. Tiffany: The Collected Works of Robert Koch, Atglen, PA, 2001, p. 265 (for the shade and base pairing)
Martin Eidelberg, Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Nancy A. McClelland and Lars Rachen, The Lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany, New York, 2005, pp. 132-133 (for the shade)
Margaret K. Hofer and Rebecca Klassen, The Lamps of Tiffany Studios: Nature Illuminated, New York, 2016, pp. 40, 76, 81 and 105 (for the base) and 62 (for the shade)
Alastair Duncan, Tiffany Lamps and Metalware, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2019, pp. 226, no. 881 (for the shade) and 228, no. 890 (for the base)
With its complex composition and bold pigmentation across the spectrum, the Oriental Poppy lamp exemplifies the unique fusion of naturalism, impressionism, and ornamentalism achieved by the artists of Tiffany Studios. A favorite subject of the French impressionists, the poppy flower entered the school’s artistic vernacular in the 1874 at the first Impressionist Exhibition, where Monet’s celebrated “Poppy Field” was displayed. A devotee of the movement, Louis Tiffany most likely attended this exhibition, which was held in a venue that was a short walk from his father’s discreet representative office in central Paris. The artist painted the poetic blossoms himself in his own landscapes and plein air sketches, and also cultivated the opulent flowers at his first Long Island Estate, Briars, as well as in the sunken garden at Laurelton Hall. Arts & Crafts inspired principles, shared by Tiffany’s one-time partner Candace Wheeler and Tiffany’s foremost lamp designer, Clara Driscoll, are evident in the rhythmic, ornamental density of the overall design. With its mysterious, dreamy perspective, the shade’s composition draws viewer’s the eye in and out as it compels the delighted mind to explore the complex imagery. For more insight into the significance of the poppy in Impressionism, and Louis Tiffany’s artistic interaction with John Singer Sargent, as well as his voyeuristic pre-occupation with opium culture, click here for the gallery's research dossier on the Oriental Poppy Lamp.