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Lot Essay
This shade is listed in the Tiffany Studios 1913 price list as model no. "1903 22" Peony, elaborate dome". By comparison with the more common 18" and 22" Peony shades, it would appear that this shade may depict a tree peony, as opposed to the more tame herbaceous variety known to most Western gardeners. On further reflection, it would seem likely that Tiffany or one of his designers was remembering John La Farge's windows Peonies Blown in the Wind with Kakemono Border of which at least five were produced between 1882 and 1908. This shade does not represent a static plant as with most of Tiffany's shades, but flowers and leaves in motion in the dramatic palette favored by artists of the Aesthetic Movement and very much typified by those La Farge interpretations of peonies from Japanese scroll paintings.
cf. Henry Adams et al., John La Farge, 1987, p. 221 for an illustration of the window produced for the John Hay house in Washington, D.C.
cf. Henry Adams et al., John La Farge, 1987, p. 221 for an illustration of the window produced for the John Hay house in Washington, D.C.