PAIRPOINT, CIRCA 1910

Several American firms, including Handel, Jefferson and Moe Bridges, competed with Pairpoint in the manufacturing of painted glass lamp shades. Decorated with landscapes, floral arrangements and avian scenes, these shades were inspired more by prevailing tastes in American painting and Victorian porcelain than contemporaneous design movements. But Pairpoint's patented mold-blown "puffy" shades, introduced in 1905, distinguished the firm from its rivals. Although many of these "puffies" are stylistically Victorian, the lamps masquerading as apple and orange trees can be seen as an American contribution to the Art Nouveau. In the same way that the "Wistaria" lamp by Tiffany Studios casts the entire shade and base as a natural form, the Pairpoint "Apple Tree" lamp is an organic sculpture disguising its actual function. The extraordinary raised decoration of this shade's glass surface, enlivened with ripening apples, hovering insects and lush foliage, gives this electrolier a blooming vitality and movement.
cf. Edward and Sheila Malakoff, Pairpoint Lamps, 1990, front and back cover illustrations and pp. 14, 15 for illustrations of this model