Nautilus Reading Lamp

c. 1899–1902

Nautilus Reading Lamp, c. 1899–1902. Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company (American, New York, 1892–1902). Bronze, leaded glass; overall: 34.5 x 21.3 x 13.4 cm (13 9/16 x 8 3/8 x 5 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Virginia Hubbell 1997.298 Benjamin Hubbell, the architect of the Cleveland Museum of Art, acquired this vase from Louis Comfort Tiffany, with whom he collaborated on various projects. The shape of the nautilus shell provides the perfect space to conceal a light bulb, the newest form of technology at the time. As a result, this lamp was a critical success and sold both in this original form and with the later alteration of a bronze mermaid for the stand and an actual nautilus shell for the shade. A lamp of this design was first featured in Siegfried Bing's 1899 display of Louis Comfort Tiffany's designs at the Grafton Galleries in London then in Tiffany's own stand at the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle.