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Lot Essay
Fossil records show that roses have existed for at least 30 million years and been appreciated by numerous civilizations. The ancient Greeks called it the “Queen of flowers” and the Romans considered it symbolic of secrecy and love. Native roses were found throughout the world and many Americans, including Thomas Jefferson, featured them in their gardens. The first rose nurseries in this country were established in 1844. Their popularity here exploded in 1867 with the introduction of Chinese “tea” roses and the first formal public rose garden in the United States was created in 1904.
Louis Tiffany equally admired the flower and predictably preferred the native and “old world” varieties over the new hybrids. His first Long Island mansion, The Briars, featured a garden on its upper terrace that was “a crown of glory filled with roses of yesterday.” Laurelton Hall, his second Long Island estate, had a “long series” of greenhouses, “each with its orderly benches of rich moist earth where thrive roses, carnations, orchids, cineraria, strange palms from the tropics.” These roses were eventually planted in outside beds or in pots throughout the mansion.
Roses were featured in many of Tiffany’s leaded glass windows and eventually found their way into several of the company’s lamp designs, beginning with model 1465, the 16-inch Yellow Rose and Butterfly. Interestingly, while many models were being discontinued, Tiffany Studios’ 1913 Price List included three new shades that highlighted the flower: the 26-inch Yellow Rose dome, the 16-inch Wild Rose dome and model number 1915, the 26-inch flaring Rose design, a wonderful example of which is offered here.
The shade, possibly designed by Agnes Northrop, features large, magnificent roses in all stages of growth and perspective. The blooms range from scarlet and crimson buds to purple-streaked red blossoms that have recently opened to luxuriant ruby roses, streaked with violet, cobalt and blue, at their peak. The flowers grow among powder blue-streaked green vines and similarly colored leafage. All of these are situated on a brilliant background comprised largely of foliage, or “confetti,” glass, transparent sections enhanced with small yellow and red shards.
The gently flared shade sits upon a patinated bronze floor base raised on four curved feet and finely cast with stylized flowers. Although the shade is usually matched with a standard lamp base, its dimensions are much better suited as a floor lamp, as this combination clearly demonstrates. A rare and desirable model, this particularly beautiful pairing of shade and base is perhaps the finest example ever to be offered.
– Paul Doros, former curator of glass at the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA and author of The Art Glass of Louis Comfort Tiffany (New York 2013)
Louis Tiffany equally admired the flower and predictably preferred the native and “old world” varieties over the new hybrids. His first Long Island mansion, The Briars, featured a garden on its upper terrace that was “a crown of glory filled with roses of yesterday.” Laurelton Hall, his second Long Island estate, had a “long series” of greenhouses, “each with its orderly benches of rich moist earth where thrive roses, carnations, orchids, cineraria, strange palms from the tropics.” These roses were eventually planted in outside beds or in pots throughout the mansion.
Roses were featured in many of Tiffany’s leaded glass windows and eventually found their way into several of the company’s lamp designs, beginning with model 1465, the 16-inch Yellow Rose and Butterfly. Interestingly, while many models were being discontinued, Tiffany Studios’ 1913 Price List included three new shades that highlighted the flower: the 26-inch Yellow Rose dome, the 16-inch Wild Rose dome and model number 1915, the 26-inch flaring Rose design, a wonderful example of which is offered here.
The shade, possibly designed by Agnes Northrop, features large, magnificent roses in all stages of growth and perspective. The blooms range from scarlet and crimson buds to purple-streaked red blossoms that have recently opened to luxuriant ruby roses, streaked with violet, cobalt and blue, at their peak. The flowers grow among powder blue-streaked green vines and similarly colored leafage. All of these are situated on a brilliant background comprised largely of foliage, or “confetti,” glass, transparent sections enhanced with small yellow and red shards.
The gently flared shade sits upon a patinated bronze floor base raised on four curved feet and finely cast with stylized flowers. Although the shade is usually matched with a standard lamp base, its dimensions are much better suited as a floor lamp, as this combination clearly demonstrates. A rare and desirable model, this particularly beautiful pairing of shade and base is perhaps the finest example ever to be offered.
– Paul Doros, former curator of glass at the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA and author of The Art Glass of Louis Comfort Tiffany (New York 2013)