Tiffany Studios
10-Light Lily Lamp

American, circa 1910
Height: 20 ¾ inches

An iconic example of Tiffany Studios design, this 10-Light Lily Table Lamp features 10 Tiffany Favrile Glass “Lily” Shades with delicately ruffled rims, each shade in gold glass featuring Tiffany’s signature surface iridescence in shades of blue, magenta and purple.

Though the first lamps produced by Tiffany Studios ran on oil fuel, by the early 1900s their designs integrated the latest advent in technology: electricity. The Lily Lamp was among the firm’s earliest designs for an electrified table lamp.

The lamp’s ingenious design both incorporates and disguises its inner mechanisms. Unlike the bulbous bases of earlier oil lamps, which needed to accommodate a wide fuel canister, the base of the ’Lily’ lamp is formed by a foot of chased bronze lily pads and coiling vines from which slender bronze stems, concealing the wires which power the lamp, rise to support a series of gold iridescent Favrile Glass “Lily" Shades. These delicate Tiffany glass shades both shield the lightbulbs from view and diffuse the light to an atmospheric glow. Even the light switch is camouflaged as a small bronze lily pad tucked amongst the leaves and buds of the lamp’s base.

The Lily Lamp earned Tiffany a grand prix at the 1902 Prima Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Decorativa Moderna in Turin, Italy. This particular Worlds Fair was particularly focused on design and decorative arts which seamlessly united function with an original, aesthetically pleasing form.

A winning design among both critics and Tiffany’s clientele, the iconic Lily lamps produced by the firm at the turn of the century remain popular with today’s Tiffany collectors.

American, circa 1910
Height: 20 ¾ inches

An iconic example of Tiffany Studios design, this 10-Light Lily Table Lamp features 10 Tiffany Favrile Glass “Lily” Shades with delicately ruffled rims, each shade in gold glass featuring Tiffany’s signature surface iridescence in shades of blue, magenta and purple.

Though the first lamps produced by Tiffany Studios ran on oil fuel, by the early 1900s their designs integrated the latest advent in technology: electricity. The Lily Lamp was among the firm’s earliest designs for an electrified table lamp.

The lamp’s ingenious design both incorporates and disguises its inner mechanisms. Unlike the bulbous bases of earlier oil lamps, which needed to accommodate a wide fuel canister, the base of the ’Lily’ lamp is formed by a foot of chased bronze lily pads and coiling vines from which slender bronze stems, concealing the wires which power the lamp, rise to support a series of gold iridescent Favrile Glass “Lily" Shades. These delicate Tiffany glass shades both shield the lightbulbs from view and diffuse the light to an atmospheric glow. Even the light switch is camouflaged as a small bronze lily pad tucked amongst the leaves and buds of the lamp’s base.

The Lily Lamp earned Tiffany a grand prix at the 1902 Prima Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Decorativa Moderna in Turin, Italy. This particular Worlds Fair was particularly focused on design and decorative arts which seamlessly united function with an original, aesthetically pleasing form.

A winning design among both critics and Tiffany’s clientele, the iconic Lily lamps produced by the firm at the turn of the century remain popular with today’s Tiffany collectors.