NEW YORK, NY.- On December 18th at 10am, Sotheby’s New York will offer a sale dedicated to Important Tiffany, highlighted by several prominent single-owner collections. This highly curated offering of 40 lots features top-caliber examples of the firm’s leaded glass lamps, favrile glass vases and bronze objects, and will be immediately followed by the sale of Important 20th Century Design at approximately 10:30am. The exhibition will open at Sotheby’s New York beginning on Saturday, December 13th.

The offering of Important Tiffany includes Property from the Collection of John M. Fowler, featuring an Important and Rare “Pebble” Table Lamp, ca. 1900-1902 (lot 10, est. $300/500,000), with a rare “pumpkin” base with pebble decoration. The design for this lamp was introduced by Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company in the late 1890s, around the time that a series of panels with similar pebbled compositions made their debut. The shade is comprised of irregular bands of flowerheads that diminish in size as they ascend, each articulated in stone with chiseled glass centers, and pierced at the corners with tiny vent holes. Below the top aperture, where the diminishing scale of the design precludes the further use of pebbles, the flowerheads are comprised of smaller glass petals with faceted glass centers that act as a prism to disperse the light. The astonishing attention to detail in the shade implies that its design was conceived when the firm first began to develop a market for its leaded glass lampshades, leading to the immediate realization of their innate beauty and broad commercial appeal. One of less than five known examples of this rare model, this important offering presents the collecting community with an opportunity to acquire one of Tiffany Studios’ most exquisite and celebrated masterworks. Also from the Collection of John M. Fowler is a Superb “Tulip” Table Lamp, ca. 1905 (lot 11, est. $200/300,000), featuring a rare six-light “Empire” base with six favrile glass candles.

A Private European Collection features nine lots, including a Rare “Zodiac” Table Lamp, ca. 1910 (lot 21, est. $70/90,000); a “Dogwood” Table Lamp, ca. 1905 (lot 25, est. $90/120,000); and a “Border Peony” Floor Lamp, ca. 1910 (lot 26, est. $120/180,000).

The Important Tiffany auction also includes a broad selection of favrile glass vases, including a Fine and Rare “Peacock” Vase, ca. 1895 (lot 1, est. $30/50,000). This exquisite and rarified vase was created during Louis Comfort Tiffany’s early period of glass production, a time in which he was focused on capturing the subtle colors and forms of nature. The earliest documented example of this “Peacock” vase form is now in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and was originally part of the Havemeyer bequest to the museum in 1896.

Other highlights by Tiffany Studios include an oak and favrile glass tile Fireplace Surround from the Library of the Arthur Douglas Nash Residence, Waldheim, Flushing, New York, ca. 1911 (lot 6, est. $20/30,000) and a Rare Jewelled “Fish Scale” Floor Lamp, ca. 1910 (lot 31, est. $350/500,000). The coordinated colors of the “fish scale” shade and the elaborate favrile mosaic glass base create a cohesive ensemble, no doubt designed in the period for a specific interior commission.