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Base Currency: A Guide to Tiffany Bases
While Tiffany leaded shades often steal the spotlight, true collectors recognize that the lamp bases are equally important when assembling a Tiffany lamp. These bases were remarkable works of sculpture, crafted in various media such as blown glass, pressed glass, and mosaic. Tiffany Studios employed skilled modelers who designed the bases in plaster or wax. Suggested combinations of shades and bases were often featured in the studio's advertising catalogs. Today, many collectors follow established pairings seen in prominent private and museum collections. However, with a bit of research and personal taste, our curators can help you discover the perfect base to complement your ideal shade.
Tiffany base Patina
What differentiated Tiffany's bases were the artful finishes on his bases. The two main categories of finish were patinated and gilt bronze. According to Leslie Nash, lead scientist at Tiffany Studios, Tiffany's patina finish, known as "Tiffany green," was developed at Tiffany Furnaces, Corona, NY, in 1897. Tiffany’s lamp bases were first dipped in a cyanide copper solution for three to four hours. A solution composed of calcium Chloride, ammonium chloride, copper nitrate, and water was boiled and cooled. Then the solution was stippled on with a large stipple brush, creating a mottled appearance. The base was then dried for ten hours. If the green was not saturated enough, another pass was made with a brush and steam heated until completely dry. The base was then buffed to even the surface and a coat of flat lacquer was given to the article.
Left: Tiffany Green Recipe with annotation, Glass Formulas of Leslie H. Nash, lead scientist of Tiffany Studios, 1928; Right: Tiffany Green patina finish on a twisted vine base
Tiffany’s gold finish was applied by electroplating the base with 24K gold. Gold finishes came in a smooth finish and a speckled textured finish called Doré. Tiffany also produced an in-between finish referred to as “statuary patina” that involved copper-plating the bronze, acid-etching the surface, and then exposing the metal to acids and pigments. This resulted in a mellow grayish-brown patina that achieves greater fidelity to nature.
1.Smooth Gilt Bronze, 2. Doré Gilt Bronze, 3. Statuary Patina on Gilt Bronze
Plain Bronze Bases
Tiffany lamp bases vary widely in price and rarity. The electric light bulb played a significant role in the refinement of base design. Eliminating the need for a canister base allowed Tiffany to create elegant bronze bases in a range of slender, elongated forms. The most common bronze bases, shown below, draw inspiration from nature or architectural ornament.The bases influenced by architectural designs feature elements like palmettes, rosettes, and ogives whereas those inspired by nature display details such as fiddlehead ferns, tendrils, onion roots, vines, and mushrooms.
1. Ribbed Base, 2. Library Standard Cushion base. 3. Decorated library base, 4. Mock Turtle Base, 5. Onion Bulb Base, 6. Cushion Base, 7. Twisted Vine Base, 8. Stick Base, 9. Mushroom Base
Root Bases
Tiffany’s metalware designers added a variety of unique Tiffany glass ornament to their bases from glass balls to turtlebacks to mosaics. Tiffany's highly collectible glass ball bases were based upon the statuesque roots of the mangrove tree, which thrives along the lush Florida coast. Tiffany's fascination with the state began in 1884 when he accompanied his wife Louis to St. Augustine. Starting in 1909, Tiffany made annual winter visits to Miami until he eventually settled in his final estate, Comfort Lodge, located on the prestigious Millionaire's Row. Appropriately, his estate was beautifully surrounded by ancient mangroves.
1. 16 Ball Base, 2. Root Base, 3. Telescoping Ball Base
Blown Glass Bases
Tiffany’s earliest bases were blown glass fuel bases, some resting on the ball or claw feet, some set on tripods. A large number of the bases were ornamented with twisted wire and beading- thus resembling the ornament in the Havemeyer’s house’s staircase and hanging lamps. The first base designed for a leaded shade was designed for Clara Driscoll’s Dragonfly and Waterflowers Table Lamp. The striations in the design were meant to evoke the silhouettes of cattails against the water. The second category of blown glass bases was a series of reticulated glass fuel lamps based upon Palloncino Venezianas (Venetian balloons). To create these vessels, seventeenth-century Murano artisans would blow glass through metal armatures. While colloquially called the “pineapple”, Tiffany’s glass base was modeled after the pomegranate. During the Renaissance, pomegranate textiles proliferated from the caliphate of Süleyman the Magnificent (1520-66) to the dresses of Venetian court ladies. The sumptuous Italian gold-brocaded red velvets with the pomegranate motif, “zetani vel lutati al lucciolati” as recorded in contemporary documents. were an indication of high social status: luxury, power, and sacredness. Between Tiffany’s glass technique and chosen motif, Tiffany’s blown glass base is a stunning ode to Venice.
Turtleback Bases
Tiffany Studios' most elaborate and expensive table lamp bases debuted in production between 1897 and 1900. These early bases incorporated a combustion fuel canister and consequently presented a larger surface area for design consideration, leading to lamps with significant turtleback and mosaic work. To decorate these substantial bronze forms, Tiffany incorporated turtlebacks and glass tesserae, creating intricate gradient mosaics. With the arrival of electrification, the fuel canisters were removed, and previously unlit turtlebacks were illuminated by bulbs placed in the cavity where the fuel canisters once sat.
1. Turtleback Box Base, 2. Turtleback Urn Base, 3. Turtleback and Mosaic Cattail Base
Mosaic Lamp Bases
Tiffany’s mosaic lamp bases were an innovation by Tiffany’s lead lamp designer, Clara Driscoll. In 1898, Driscoll noted “Today I thought how nice it would be to make a lamp with a mosaic base instead of a metal or glass vase that is usually taken for the base” The first mosaic bases were not modeled in plaster or wax as was traditional, nut instead formed in clay over a small pail, molded in cement and the glass mosaic was added on top of Tiffany's mosaic lamp bases featured three distinct silhouettes. The electrical mosaic bases showcased slender, tree-like forms, adorned with swirling mosaic patterns. In contrast, the fuel-powered mosaic bases—crafted for Tiffany's most exclusive models, such as the butterfly, apple blossom, and cobweb lamps—were cast in basrelief. These bases featured intricate floral designs set against a backdrop of iridescent mosaic glass tiles, each a remarkable blend of technical precision and artistic mastery, requiring the expert skills of a seasoned mosaicist. In some variants of mosaic bases, the mosaic was accentuated by high-relief bronze appliques, often figurative in nature.
Lotus Lamp, 2. Butterfly Lamp with Daffodil Base, 3. Elaborate Peony Lamp, 4. Cobweb & Apple Blossom
1. Swirling Dragonfly Base, 2. Bat Base, 3. Wheat Base, 4. Dragonfly Base
Ceramic Bases
Louis Comfort Tiffany’s passion for ceramics led to the creation of the Tiffany ceramic lamp base. He collaborated with several American and European designers, drawing inspiration from both continents. In America, Tiffany incorporated vases by Japanese designer Kataro Shirayamadani, who worked with the renowned Cincinnati-based Rookwood Pottery. Tiffany was also fond of the work of ceramic artists showcased by Siegfried Bing. While exhibiting his glass at Bing’s influential gallery, L’Art Nouveau, Tiffany became acquainted with the ceramics of Adrien Dalpayrat and George Prentiss Kendrick. Their bold glazes and forms are perfectly paired with Tiffany’s elaborate and richly colored shades.
1. Kataro Shirayamadani of Rookwood Pottery, 2. Adrien Dalpayrat, 3. George Prentiss Kendrick of Grueby Pottery