DALLAS, TX.- Two stunning Tiffany Studios lamps took top billing in
Heritage Auctions Oct. 28 Tiffany, Lalique & Art Glass: Including Art Nouveau & Art Deco Signature® Auction.
Lighting the way was a leaded glass and patinated bronze Dragonfly table lamp, circa 1910. Designed by Clara Driscoll, head of Tiffany Studios Womens Glass Cutting Department, the exquisite lamp which sold for $150,000 features a swarm of blue dragonflies with red eyes, their delicate wings streaked with periwinkle.
When I secured the Dragonfly lamp, I knew we had something special on our hands, and unsurprisingly our bidders agreed, said Heritage Auctions Consignment Director of Decorative Arts & Design Samantha Robinson. The high hammer price says as much about the merits of this individual lamp as it does the robust market for Tiffany Studios, which shows no indication of slowing down.
In the runner-up position was a leaded glass and patinated bronze Oriental Poppy table lamp, also produced by Tiffany Studios circa 1910, which sold for $118,750.
The Oriental Poppy is a highly sought-after model due to its complex, dynamic composition, and the example we offered is among the finest due to the glass selection, Robinson said. Vibrant blossoms in a variety of red hues and verdant stems and leaves are against a turquoise ground with dazzling effect.
Two other lots in the auction neared the $100,000 mark, including another Tiffany Studios design. A leaded glass and patinated bronze Tiffany Dogwood table lamp, circa 1910, sold for $93,750, as did a bronze La Tentation floor lamp, circa 1925, by French designer and master metalsmith Edgar Brandt. In the form of a snake, the Brandt bases gilt bronze body slithers its way to the top of the lamp, where the serpents coiled head holds a signed Daum etched glass shade.
Other must-haves in the event included a Tiffany Studios leaded glass and patinated bronze Turtle-Back table lamp, circa 1910, which sold for $60,000; a Martin Brothers glazed stoneware Grotesque Bird covered jar, 1907, which brought in $45,000; and an R. Lalique amber glass Serpent vase, circa 1924, which fetched $42,500.
In the end, 876 bidders vied for the sales many outstanding lots, bringing the auctions total to $1,802,702.