Skip to main content

Photography by Edward C. Robison III.

Wisteria table lamp

Thousands of hand-picked glass petals whimsically cascade down this iconic Tiffany lampshade. Preferring to invent experimental designs over simpler commercial ones, Clara Driscoll delighted in devising this distinctive and labor-intensive lamp. As head of the Women’s Glass Cutting Department at Tiffany Studios, Driscoll led a team of over two dozen women creating multicolored windows, mosaics, and lamps. Driscoll and her “Tiffany Girls” exemplified the turn-of-the-twentieth century “New Woman”—independent, career-minded ladies living in New York City.

ArtistClara Driscoll, 1861–1944
Dateca. 1905-1906
MediumLeaded glass and bronze
Dimensions27 in. high, 18 in. shade diameter (68.6 × 45.7 cm)
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, Gift of the Benedict Silverman Collection, 2021.16
ClassificationDecorative Arts
Provenance(Corinthian Studios, Saratoga, CA); Benedict Silverman [1929-2016]; Jayne Evelyn Bentzen (his wife), 2016; given to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2021
On ViewYes
Wisteria table lamp27.0 × 18.0 in.Tennis Ball2.7 in. diameter

This artwork's face covers about 67× the area of a tennis ball.Drawn to the same scale.