Image scanned from a transparency and color-corrected by Pat Cagney.

Electric Nautilus Reading Lamp

Manufacturer Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company (American, 1892 - 1902)

Designer Louis A. Gudebrod (American, 1872 - 1961)

Dateca. 1899

MediumBronze and shell

DimensionsOverall: 17 1/2 in. (44.5 cm)

ClassificationsDecorative arts

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.2588

Terms

Art Nouveau
New York

Collections

Glass Art

On View

Not on view

DescriptionNautilus shell table lamp. Bronze "Mermaid" figure base with arms upraised holding a natural nautilus shell rimmed with silver & holding the electric socket for a bulb.

Label TextTiffany Glass & Decorating Company Corona, New York Louis A. Gudebrod, Designer (base) American (1872-1961) Electric Nautilus Reading Lamp, ca. 1899 Cast bronze with natural shell Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2588 This lamp is one of many made by Tiffany that contain no decorative glass. Louis Comfort Tiffany painted his design for a natural nautilus shell lamp on May 2, 1899. The mermaid base was designed by the Meriden, Connecticut, sculptor Louis A. Gudebrod. FROM WEB In an effort to reach the interiors of a greater population, Tiffany began to design lamps to allow more people to enjoy art and beauty in their own home. Colored glass, Tiffany's lasting love and challenge, found fresh scope and inspiration. While the windows served to transmit the light of day, the lamps represent a new source of illumination independent of daylight. Fabrication of the lamps began in 1885, with the majority of them being made between 1895 and 1920. Louis Gudebrod was a well known American Art Nouveau sculptor whom Louis Comfort Tiffany retained to create a limited production lamp base of a lovely mermaid holding above her head a lighted nautilus shell. The resulting Mermaid Desk Lamps were some of the earliest electrified fixtures produced by Tiffany Studios. Sitting atop the marked Guderbrod mermaid base, this lamp was produced with both natural nautilus shell as well as a stained glass version. Both types were extremely difficult to manufacture for different reasons. Natural nautilus shell is inherently very fragile, making it very difficult to polish and drill for the lamp fixture holders. The stained glass nautilus shell was even more challenging, requiring the leaded glass shade to wrap back upon itself and curl underneath to almost disappear within. As such, the mermaid desk lamps were produced for only a few years and in very limited numbers, and few of these beautiful lamps still exist today with most in permanent collections.