Pansy Border Table Lamp (c. 1902–10): Art, History and Details

Pansy Border Table Lamp (c. 1902–10) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Clara Wolcott Driscoll (American, 1861–1944); Tiffany Studios (United States, New York, 1902–32).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

In the 1870s a renewed emphasis on natural landscapes ushered in a generation of cottage gardeners who delighted in planting perennials in large quantities. Louis Comfort Tiffany was among those who championed the lush, sometimes wild-looking displays of varied floral species in the garden at his Long Island estate, Laurelton Hall. He encouraged his designers to take inspiration from his garden by shipping fresh cuttings almost weekly to his studios. Ohio native Clara Wolcott Driscoll created patterns based on the colorful blooms of spring that became among the most sought after and commercially successful of Tiffany’s production.

Object facts

• Title: Pansy Border Table Lamp
• Date: c. 1902–10
• Creator attribution: Clara Wolcott Driscoll (American, 1861–1944); Tiffany Studios (United States, New York, 1902–32)
• Culture: America, New York
• Type: Lamp
• Technique: Leaded glass, blown glass, bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 40.6 cm (16 in.); Diameter: 40.6 cm (16 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 2018.266

A detail from the museum

This lamp features a rare base in which green glass is blown into a bronze cage—a very difficult technique since glass and bronze cool at different temperatures risking a complete shatter if not executed correctly.

Collection credit

Bequest of Charles Maurer

Further reading listed by the museum

• "King Louis". Antique Collecting 58, no. 7 (December/January 2023-24): 36-40.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.