Rare Tiffany 'Poppy' Lamps Sells for $541,200

DENVER, Penn. – A rare circa 1905-1910 Tiffany Studios “Poppy” leaded-glass table lamp sold for $541,200 (including a 23% buyer’s premium) during a Fine & Decorative Arts event in June at Morphy Auctions, which the house believes is a world-record auction price for a Tiffany lamp in the Poppy motif.

A rare circa 1905-1910 Tiffany Studios “Poppy” leaded-glass table lamp sold for $541,200 at Morphy Auction. Courtesy Morphy Auctions

“We’ve sold other Poppy lamps in the $70,000-$125,000 range, but this one was in a league of its own,” said Dan Morphy, founder and president of Morphy Auctions. “Only Tiffany’s most highly skilled artisans could have produced a shade of this standard. It’s a complex masterpiece, unlike any other we’ve ever seen. The design would have been laid out piece by carefully chosen piece, with the addition of intense cobalt blue glass that’s rarely seen in art-glass lamps.

“It’s surely one of the greatest artworks ever to come out of Tiffany’s studios,” Morphy said. The lamp was sourced from a longtime Florida collection and is now the property of an American private collector who wishes to remain anonymous.

Other highlights from the auction include:

Tiffany Studios table lamp with blue damascene shade: $36,900. Courtesy Morphy Auctions

Rare and exquisite Eduard Stellmacher horned-dragon vase, 29 inches tall, depicted in two reference books as well as the 1905 Stellmacher catalog: $34,440. Courtesy Morphy Auctions

Daum Nancy wheel-carved frosted vase with blue daisies and martele background, 6½ inch tall: $12,300. Courtesy Morphy Auctions

Circa-1920s Cartier Art Deco platinum and diamond drop earrings in original display-case box, total diamond weight approximately 4.68 carats. Each earring signed ‘Cartier’ and numbered ‘638’: $98,400. Courtesy Morphy Auctions

A circa-1780 Connecticut Chippendale cherry slant-lid secretary: $41,820. Courtesy Morphy Auctions