The top lot of the auction was this Turtle-Back chandelier, circa 1905, that once hung in Laurelton Hall, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s Long Island estate. The colorful fixture had a 16-inch diameter shade and a 48-inch drop. Bidders drove up the price to $262,500.

PITTSFIELD, MASS. — On May 31, a highly curated auction at Fontaine’s Auction Gallery, billed as “Tiffany Studios: Masterworks in Glass,” more than lived up to its billing. Drawing in bidders from around the world, the sale achieved just more than $6 million.

Fontaine’s has long specialized in fine decorative pieces, Tiffany Studios in particular. Bidders at its quarterly fine and decorative arts auctions can count on seeing a handful of notable Tiffany lamps and glass works. This sale, the auctioneer’s first dedicated Tiffany Studios sale, went well above the norm with more than 300 examples in this one sale alone. “Buyers came out of the woodwork for this sale, telling us there has not been a grouping of such standouts in a long time,” said auctioneer John Fontaine.

The auction immediately started off on a high note with lamps meeting and exceeding estimates. The top lot came within the first hour — an important Tiffany Studios Turtle-Back chandelier that once hung in Louis Comfort Tiffany’s showplace estate, Laurelton Hall, in Long Island, N.Y. The circa 1905 chandelier retained its vibrant coloring and had a 16-inch diameter shade and a 48-inch drop. Bidding was hot and heavy, and the chandelier sold above its estimate at $262,500. Illustrating the importance of provenance, an equally striking pair of early Turtle-Back lanterns, circa 1895, benefitted by tracing its provenance to the late Tiffany dealer Lillian Nassau; the pair made $250,000.

This rare pair of early Turtle-Back lanterns, circa 1895, benefitted by tracing its provenance to the late Tiffany dealer Lillian Nassau; the pair made $250,000.

“These rare Turtle-Back lanterns were highly distinctive and this exact example differed from the more common examples that had tiles made with blue, green, white or red glass,” Fontaine said. “They were practically glowing with translucent and internally decorated glass that had rich colorful iridescence.”

Besides geometric designs like the aforementioned, floral designs are perennially popular. A Double Poinsettia table lamp circa 1910 table lamp, standing 30 inches tall, achieved $237,500 with a Roman base. Its 22½-inch diameter shade was impressed “Tiffany Studios, New York, 1551,” and its base was impressed “Tiffany Studios, New York, 529.” Altogether, the lamp stood 30 inches tall.

Another desirable example was the rare 25-light Lily chandelier, circa 1905, that brought $180,000. Measuring 41 by 26 inches, the fixture came out of a private collection in San Francisco and the Geoffrey Diner Gallery in Washington, D.C. Each shade was engraved “L.C.T.”

A circa 1910 Daffodil table lamp, having a rare Twisted Vine base and a 20-inch diameter shade, also elicited competitive bidding and sold above estimate at $212,500.

Floor lamps also performed well in the auction, led by a circa 1910 Maple Leaf example, standing 68 inches tall, that went out at $112,500, and a Curtain Border floor lamp, 64 inches tall, also circa 1910, took $100,000.

While lighting fixtures comprised the majority of the auction, the few exceptions to this were quite notable and well received. A circa 1890 Tiffany Studios scenic window, The Currie Memorial, retained vivid glasswork, including stained, leaded, plated, mottled, jeweled and ripple glass. Measuring 109 by 65½ inches framed and depicting a sunset over a mountain landscape, it sold for $150,000. The window was commissioned directly from Tiffany by a New Jersey church and was pictured in Alasdair Duncan’s 1980 book on Tiffany windows.

Rounding out the auction were an early Peony table lamp, circa 1903, having a 22-inch diameter shade, that brought $162,500 and a Lotus table lamp, circa 1905, with a 26¼-inch diameter shade, $131,250.

Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, visit www.fontainesauction.com or 413-448-8922.