Rare Trumpet Creeper Hanging Shade

Rare Trumpet Creeper Hanging Shade
Tiffany Studios
circa 1906

This rare Tiffany Lamp, likely designed by Clara Driscoll under the direction of Louis Comfort Tiffany and executed by the Women’s Glass Cutting Department at Tiffany Studios, is a showcase of exceptional Tiffany Glass. The first leaded glass shade for a Tiffany Lamp depicting the Trumpet Creeper was adapted from Driscoll’s iconic Wisteria Table Lamp around 1903. This rare hanging shade is the only other known model depicting the vine produced by Tiffany Studios; it was likely introduced around 1906, when it was was listed in the company’s Price List at $150.00.

The Trumpet Creeper hanging shade is one of the extremely rare non-repeating floral designs produced by Tiffany Studios. The company produced very few “continuous” designs, likely owing to the additional time and cost involved in selecting, cutting and soldering the glass for the more complicated composition.

Each side of the shade features a unique arrangement of lush Trumpet Creeper vines in pale green glass descending from the crown and spreading across the shade. The vines are laden with large open orange blossoms articulated in richly mottled opalescent glass in which vibrant orange and deep green have been swirled together, then masterfully selected and arranged to suggest the sculptural form of the flowers. The flowers are surrounded by a profusion of foliage of richly mottled variegated green glass with delicate streaks of orange.

The background of the shade is formed by Tiffany Glass in a slightly paler shade of golden orange with hints of pale green, offering a sense of the depth of the lush vine; the more deeply saturated tones of the glass used for the floral motif stand out against the subtle background. The design is framed above and below by two borders of horizontal panes of soft blue Tiffany Glass with heavy mottling, accented by a beaded upper and lower edge.

This rare and exceptional original Tiffany Lamp is signed.

The gardens at Laurelton Hall, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s famous Oyster Bay estate, prominently featured the trumpet creeper vine. In a 1906 article in House Beautiful describing the grounds of the estate, Samuel Howe, a contemporary critic, described the profusion of the flowers so loved by Tiffany:

“The creepers frame the openings, giving a charm and graceful unity to everything. They are great travellers, verily—tramps. They go underground, across door-heads, over cornices, stopping up gutters, filling odd corners, doing no end of mischief … What harmonizers! What decorative artists! …Can architectural embellishment, pediment or cornice surpass the fringe of living glory presented by the creepers? Always in style, always exempt from even the dictation of Dame Fashion! Always mellowing, softening, harmonizing whithersoever they go…”


Diameter: 24 inches (61 cm)
Overall drop including hardware: 37 inches (94 cm)