Tiffany Studios

Private Collection

Christie's New York, December 12, 1997, lot 189

Acquired from the above by the present owner

William Feldstein, Jr. and Alastair Duncan, The Lamps of Tiffany Studios, New York, 1983, pp. 120-121 (for the shade)

Margaret K. Hofer and Rebecca Klassen, The Lamps of Tiffany Studios: Nature Illuminated, New York, 2016, p. 133 (for the shade)

Alastair Duncan, Tiffany Lamps and Metalware, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2019, pp. 225, no. 882 (for the shade); 230, nos. 899-901 (for the base)

Poinsettias, a plant native to Mexico, were introduced to the United States in 1828 by Joel R. Poinsett (1779-1851), an amateur botanist who was America’s first Minister to Mexico and later became Secretary of War under Martin van Buren. Because of their late blooming season, generally between October and January, and with their brilliant red bracts against vivid green leafage, the plant soon became associated with Christmas and became exceptionally popular in the United States.

Tiffany, an expert botanist and brilliant marketer, took advantage of the Poinsettia’s appeal by using it for several models of lamp shades. Surprisingly, examples of the design did not appear until around December 1908, when Tiffany Studios introduced the version as a large chandelier in a New York Times advertisement. Not surprising is that the holiday connection was prominently promoted: “The ‘Poinsettia,’ executed like all the Tiffany Studios shades under the personal direction of Mr. Louis C. Tiffany, possesses a distinctive Christmas atmosphere. Gives the rich reds and greens of the Poinsettia with remarkable fidelity.” Three years later, the company advertised the table lamp version as a “practical Christmas gift of permanent value” and “most acceptable as remembrances.”

The company made the shade in six different sizes, with diameters ranging from 14 to 26 inches. All but the largest model are of relatively static designs, with either a single or double band of the plant on a simple geometric green or yellow background. The largest example, however, with flowers covering its entirety, is supremely artistic as the example offered here clearly demonstrates. The bracts of the poinsettias, depicted in various stages of growth, are in opalescent shades of ruby, crimson, scarlet and purple-streaked carmine. The foliage, with finely leaded “veining,” is in various shades of green marbled with yellow and amber. Of particular note are the small central cyathias of the poinsettias, which are the actual flowering part of the plant. Usually a plain yellow in nature, in this shade they are interpreted very differently through the employment of vibrantly colored glass in rich jewel tones of sapphire, amber and red-streaked green glass. All of this is on a red, teal and green-tinged yellow background. In its entirety, this is one of the finest example of the model to come onto the market in many years.

– PAUL DOROS