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Source Description
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.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
160037
label
Nautilus Reading Lamp
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
160037
contentType
object
title
Nautilus Reading Lamp
description
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.
date
c. 1899–1902
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79980593
creators
55726
genreSpecific
Metalwork
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 34.5 x 21.3 x 13.4 cm (13 9/16 x 8 3/8 x 5 1/4 in.)
cul
America, early 20th Century
accession
1997.298
Source extras
tec
bronze, leaded glass
tombstone
Nautilus Reading Lamp, c. 1899–1902. Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company (America, 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
collection
Decorative Arts
inscriptions
inscription
stamped on underside: Tiffany Studios/New York/25891/TDGCo
didYouKnow
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.
citations
citation
Johnson, Marilynn. <em>Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist for the Ages</em>. London, UK: Scala, 2005.
page_number
Reproduced: Pg. 120 (Cat. No. 21); Discussed: Pg. 120
creditline
Bequest of Virginia Hubbell
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:18:20.528000
sourceId
160037
dept
Decorative Art and Design
coll
Decorative Arts
med
bronze, leaded glass
creatorTags
gender unknown
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
6de895ebcf1d3877