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Mention a Tiffany lamp, and it’s guaranteed that nearly everyone will know exactly what you mean. Louis Comfort Tiffany was the man responsible for these iconic and well loved lamps, a man who is nowadays recognized as one of the most influential American artists and craftsmen.
Louis Comfort Tiffany was the son of Charles Lewis Tiffany, the founder of the famous Tiffany & Co. jewellery store. Although expected to continue the family tradition, Louis was much more interested in art than jewellery. After spending several decades as a traditional painter, in the 1880s he decided to turn his attention to interior design. Louis’ mission was to elevate the decorative arts of interior design to the lofty levels of fine art. He is reported to have said that his lifelong aim was “to provide good art for American homes”.
L.C. Tiffany began with manufacturing stained glass windows, until one day he had an idea. He decided to take the pieces of coloured glass left over from the windows and form decorative lamps from them. At this time, Louis was working alongside the famous Thomas Edison on the first movie theatre ever to be electrically lit. The collaboration between the two men resulted in further work together – and the Tiffany lamp was born.
Tiffany formulated four types of glass exclusive to the Tiffany brand throughout his lifetime. He continued to design, although some lamps were designed by his master craftsmen under his personal supervision. Each Tiffany lampshade was created out of a mixture of glass and copper foil. The pattern was made by fitting the hand cut glass pieces into preformed copper foil shapes. The base of the lamp was usually made of sculpted bronze.
The lamps themselves can be loosely divided into different groups, each describing a particular characteristic of the lamp. One style, known as Favrile, is taken from Tiffany’s earliest lamps. Another, known as ‘Geometric’, describes his earliest pieced lamps, made from hundreds of bits of glass or several large bits soldered together. They were made in basic shapes such as triangles and squares. Later styles were more elaborate as Tiffany increased in experience.
Although the popularity of Tiffany lamps waned in the 30s and 40s, their beauty was soon rediscovered in the 1950s. Original Tiffany lamps are now great collectors’ items, and potentially worth millions of dollars. But the newer lines of lamps are still incredibly popular, with Tiffany still making lamps into the present day.
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