Tiffany Studios Peony table lamp, leaded glass on a patinated bronze Library Standard base (both marked), 30 inches high with a 23-inch diameter shade, set the bar high at $151,200. It sold to a buyer on the East Coast ($150/200,000).
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring; Photos Courtesy Rago
LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. — In previous years, David Rago has offered Art Nouveau and Art Deco glass and lighting alongside ceramics and later glass in large two-day Twentieth Century Design auctions. For the first time, on October 19, the firm conducted a stand-alone and more focused auction of just early glass and lighting. With nearly 300 lots, the auction achieved a sell-through rate of 93 percent and an overall total of $1,043,950. Reached after the sale, David Rago said it had been “very well received.”
Almost one-fourth of the auction was of works by Tiffany Studios or Louis Comfort Tiffany and, unsurprisingly, these works figured prominently in the top lots. Achieving $151,200, the highest price of the sale, was a Tiffany Studios Peony table lamp that dated to circa 1910. The model had been referenced in three publications: Robert Koch, Louis C. Tiffany’s Glass, Bronzes, Lamps; Egon Neustadt, The Lamps of Tiffany; and Tiffany Lamps and Metalware: New Edition by Alastair Duncan. Sourced from a private Philadelphia collection, it will be staying on the East Coast.
Finishing in second place at $47,880 was a rare Handel Poppies table lamp with reverse painted shade that had come from a private Florida collection. Mike Fredericks, senior specialist for early Twentieth Century Design, noted not only was the shade among the most colorful but it also had its matching base. Dated to circa 1928, the model was cited in the 1900 Handel Lamps and Fixtures manufacturer’s catalog as well as Handel Lamps: Painted Shades & Glassware by Robert De Falco and Carole G. Hibel.
The colorful reverse-painted and etched glass shade and patinated metal base were both marked and among the distinguishing and desirable features of this rare Handel Poppies lamp, circa 1928, 23¼ inches tall with an 18-inch diameter shade. It sold to an American buyer for $47,880, the second highest priced result of the auction ($35/45,000).
Among the rarest pieces in the sale was a Grape Trellis table lamp, made circa 1906 by the Suess Ornamental Glass Company. The lamps are so rare that Fredericks said the 22½-inch-high example, which had been discovered in a private collection in Kentucky, was only the second example he’d ever seen. Despite some separations to the leaded shade, he said it had extraordinary purples and greens and sold to a collector in the American South for $30,240, more than double its high estimate.
Buyers always seek out works that have never been on the market before; meeting that criterion was a Tiffany Studios Pansy table lamp that dated to circa 1910 and had always been in the same Nova Scotia family. Also referenced in Tiffany Lamps and Metalware: New Edition, it featured a “mushroom” Library Standard base that was marked “Tiffany Studios New York.” Fredericks confirmed it was sold to a buyer in Florida.
The specialist characterized the blue in a Tiffany Studios Woodbine leaded glass shade as “great,” noting it set the lamp apart from other Woodbine examples. Made circa 1910, with provenance to an important Washington DC, Tiffany collection and referenced in Tiffany Lamps & Metalware: New Edition, it sold to a buyer “in the central United States,” who purchased it for $37,800, well ahead of presale expectations.
This Tiffany Studios 12-light Lily table lamp, made circa 1910, utilized 12 hand-blown Favrile glass shades etched “LCT Favrile.” It found a new home with a Pennsylvania buyer who was new to Rago for $23,940 ($15/20,000).
A buyer from Pennsylvania who was making their debut purchase at Rago outbid competitors for Tiffany Studios 12-light Lily table lamp, taking it to $23,940. The circa 1910 lamp combined a marked Pond Lily base with hand-blown Favrile glass shades each etched “L.C.T. Favrile.” It was referenced not only in Tiffany Lamps & Metalware: New Edition but also Robert Koch’s Louis C. Tiffany’s Glass, Bronzes, Lamps: A Complete Collector’s Guide.
Not all the Tiffany pieces were lamps. Tiffany Studios chargers come up from time to time but one that measured 22 inches in diameter was rare not only for its size but also for the well-defined ribbing. It had been owned by Carl J. Carlson, who had at one time been president of Garcia y Vega Cigars and the Cigar Association of America. A buyer in the New York City area paid $23,940 for it. Also staying on the East Coast was a Tiffany Studios Jack-in-the-Pulpit vase in a vibrant iridescent blue that came from a private Illinois collection.
A small but choice selection of candle holders also brightened the sale. A rare example with snuffer that had hand-blown Favrile glass shades on a patinated bronze base, the green and white pulled shades etched “L.C.T.,” burned to $16,380 and is going to be going to a new home in the Northwest. Also described as rare was a 12-light candelabrum that stood 15½ inches tall and had blown green candle cups sold to a California collector within estimate for $15,120.
“These come to auction with some regularity, but this was a nice example in good condition,” recalled Mike Fredericks, speaking about the sale’s cover lot, this Loie Fuller gilt bronze lamp made by Francois-Raoul Larch in France, circa 1901. It brought $22,680 ($10/15,000).
The auction’s cover lot was a circa 1901 gilt bronze Loie Fuller lamp by Francois-Raoul Larche. Referenced in Art Nouveau by Gabriele Fahr-Becker and Macklowe Gallery’s Dynamic Beauty: Sculpture of Art Nouveau Paris, the 17½-inch-tall example with impressed foundry marks sold to another collector in the American South for $22,680.
The sleeper of the sale was a George Leleu Art Nouveau patinated bronze table lamp that had provenance to Michael John at Succession in London as well as a private Michigan collection. Fredericks said an Art Nouveau collector in Northern New England outbid other buyers, taking it to $18,900 from an estimate of $800-$1,200.
A Manhattan, N.Y., collection was the source for 30 lots of Daum, Galle and Lalique glass. It included an impressionist vase decorated with cherry blossoms and butterflies that Fredericks said was “an early piece in the Daum repertoire…in excellent condition” exhibited bright colors. The 5½-inch-tall vase “saw a lot of activity” and, in the end, sold to a buyer in the Midwest for $27,720, nearly twice its high estimate.
From the same collection was a rare marquetry scent bottle with silver overlay by Emile Galle that was engraved “1 October 1898” and stood 4½ inches tall. A longtime Rago client in France outlasted other competitors and had a winning bid of $11,340.
The date of Rago’s next Art Nouveau & Art Deco Lighting and Glass sale has not yet been set but Fredericks anticipated it would be in late January or early February.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For additional information, www.ragoarts.com or 609-397-9374.
