Tiffany lamps are a type of lamp created Louis Comfort Tiffany and made famous him (1848-1933). Charles Lewis Tiffany, the famous owner of the jewelry firm Tiffany and Co., whose clients included presidents and Queen Victoria of England, was the eldest son of Louis Tiffany.
Louis Tiffany defied his father’s wishes and refused to follow in his father’s footsteps. Instead, he became a well-known painter who specialized in oils and watercolors. Louis Tiffany enjoyed traveling, and his experiences influenced his work, especially when he became interested in medieval glass. Tiffany’s interest in glassmaking led to a new interest of hers: interior design. Tiffany’s goal was to elevate and popularize decorative arts to fine arts status, and he quickly made a name for himself decorating the White House, as well as the homes of Mark Twain and Cornelius Vanderbilt. Tiffany’s interior designs included stained-glass windows, which were his new passion.
Tiffany established his own company in 1885, focusing on glassmaking techniques that allowed for colors and hues not previously seen in glass. Tiffany was working with Thomas Edison at the time to light the first movie theater, the Lyceum. Tiffany was enthralled Edison’s new filament bulb invention. He could create miniature versions of his exquisite stained-glass windows to serve as lampshades for a filament bulb that would illuminate the stained glass at any time of day or night. It was then that the Tiffany lamp was born.
Tiffany lamps were made between 1885 and 1920, and were distinguished ornate bronze bases and one-of-a-kind stained-glass shades. Tiffany’s lamps had lost favor the time he died in 1933, as artistic tastes had changed and the lamps were seen as ostentatious. Tiffany’s lamps, on the other hand, regained popularity in 1958 after a retrospective show brought his work back to the attention of museums and collectors. An original Tiffany lamp now sells for more than two million dollars in the United States.
Tiffany lamps are Tiffany-style lamps that can be found in department stores. Tiffany-style lamps typically have a polished brass base and an ornate shade made up of numerous colored glass pieces of various shapes and sizes. Some shades are patterned at random, while others have distinct patterns.
Tiffany-style lamps are so popular that even the reproductions have their own low-cost knock-offs made of colored plastic imitation glass. We can only speculate on what Louis Tiffany would think of this, but the lamp’s longevity is a testament to the man’s desire to bring beauty into people’s homes around the world.