At the time that this table lamp was made, the Art Pottery movement was flourishing in America. Fulper had operated in Flemington, New Jersey, producing utilitarian stoneware since the early nineteenth century. It was not until 1909 that the firm developed an artistic line, called "Vasekraft," under the direction of William Hill Fulper II, in whose family the lamp descended. Although a late entry into the movement, Fulper—known for simple Oriental forms and colorful crystalline glazes—was one of the most prolific and successful Art potteries during the first quarter of the twentieth century.

The firm's most spectacular and innovative accomplishments are the table lamps made with glazed pottery bases and shades, which were inset with pieces of colored opalescent glass. This ambitious example, one of only two known of this design, features a shade in the most complex pattern made by the factory. The glass-filled openings delineate dragonflies and waterlilies, motifs favored at the same time by noted glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany. Evoking the natural watery environment of the insects and plants, the lamp is sheathed in a rich Chinese blue flambé glaze.