Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2023.

Woman in a Pergola with Wisteria

Manufacturer Tiffany Studios (American, 1902-1932)

Dateca. 1910-14

MediumLeaded glass with copper foil, stain, and enamel

DimensionsOverall, Frame (approximate): 93 3/8 × 113 1/2 × 3 1/2 in. (237.2 × 288.3 × 8.9 cm)
Overall without frame: 85 1/4 × 90 1/4 in. (216.5 × 229.2 cm)

ClassificationsGlass

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number78.477

Terms

Women
Flowers
Wisteria
Multicolor
Art Nouveau
Corona, New York

Collections

Glass Art

On View

On view

DescriptionThis is a stained glass portrait window triptych. The side panels are of wisteria draped pillars of mottled and fractured glass and various layers. Each is backed with a "frosted" sheet over all (not original). The middle panel is a portrait section with matching wisteria and a full standing portrait of a young woman clad in Near Eastern dress. The robe on the figure is made of multicolor blue drapery glass, and the figure has painted arms and face. The window was commissioned by Joseph Raphael de Lamar for "Pembroke," his $15 million Glen Cove, Long Island estate. It was installed above the front entrance.

The woman in the window was likely inspired by Lillian Nordica (American, 1857-1914), an American opera singer who was lifelong friends with Joseph De Lamar, and whom De Lamar asked to marry him on two separate occasions. Nordica sang the titular role of Verdi's opera Aida in New York from 1894 to 1906, and in an official photograph of her as Aida, she draped in a manner that is strikingly similar to Tiffany's depiction in glass.
Label TextTiffany Studios New York, 1902–32 Woman in a Pergola with Wisteria, ca. 1910–14 Leaded glass with copper foil, stain, and enamel It was long assumed that the woman in this window was modeled after the ex-wife of Captain Joseph De Lamar (1843–1918), the millionaire who commissioned Tiffany to create this spectacular work for his Long Island home, Pembroke Estate. New research re-identifies the mysterious figure as De Lamar’s lifelong, and unrequited, love: the famous American opera singer Lillian Nordica (1857–1914). Nordica performed the titular role of Verdi’s Aida in New York from 1894 to 1906. In her official photograph, she is draped in a manner that is strikingly similar to Tiffany’s depiction in glass. De Lamar and Nordica shared a deep friendship, and he asked her to marry him on at least two separate occasions, some 30 years apart (in 1874 and again in 1905). Although their marriage never came to pass, De Lamar’s choice of imagery attests to and immortalizes his lifelong affection for Lillian Nordica. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 78.477