Floral Fascination: Daffodils

The Daffodil was a favorite flower of Louis Comfort Tiffany, whose famed Daffodil Terrace survives at the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art in Winter Park, Florida. The flower thus became a frequently used motif at Tiffany Studios: the company produced at least 10 distinct #leadedglass shades depicting the Daffodil, more than any other flower in their catalogue.

This particular 16-inch diameter shade was likely designed by Clara Driscoll, the head “Tiffany Girl” responsible for many of the most iconic Tiffany Lamps.

Each of the daffodil blossoms which encircle the shade is articulated in expertly selected mottled yellow Tiffany glass in a variety of opacity levels, carefully arranged to create a three dimensional effect. These naturalistic Tiffany Glass flowers contrast with the transparent background glass representing the sky, which is further accented by spiky leaves in shades of greenish blue which which sprout from the lower ripple glass border of the shade.