| Louis Comfort
Tiffany (1848-1933), the celebrated glass designer, was the son of Charles
Lewis Tiffany, the legendary founder of the silver and jewelry firm, Tiffany
and Co. Louis chose to pursue his love of art instead of following in the
family business, gaining acclaim for his oils and watercolors in the 1860s
and 1870s. In the 1880s, however, he turned his attention to interior design
as "a way to provide good art for American homes." His remarkable career
spanned 57 years.
As one of America’s most influential artists,
designers and craftsmen of the century, Tiffany wanted to bring decorative
arts to the same status as fine arts. The lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany
signify this quest to bring beauty into the home. After collaborating to
light the first movie theatre, friend Thomas Edison suggested the idea
of making electric fixtures. Tiffany soon began to create lamps as small
versions of his exquisite stained-glass windows and developed the idea
into a new art form. Tiffany Studios produced over 500 different designs
for lamp bases and over 500 different shades; shades and bases were made
for the most part to be interchangeable. Tiffany’s lamps were and still
are recognized for their superior design and handcrafted details including
the use of copper foil for making leaded or coppered glass shades..
In addition to bringing beauty to the masses,
Tiffany also made discoveries in the process for formulating glass. Tiffany
developed a unique process that created bolder colors, opalescent sheens
and a broader range of textures for artisans. He patented four types of
glass over a period of two decades and worked with teams of craftsmen to
manufacture stained-glass windows, lamps and lamp bases. Favrile was first
used for glass blown at the Tiffany plant in Corona, NY. In 1902, when
the Tiffany Studios name first appeared, the trademark Favrile was used
to apply to decorative glass, enamels, and pottery.
The motifs in Tiffany’s elaborate lamps
were inspired by his love of nature. Some patterns featured in The Lamps
of Tiffany include: dragonflies, the tracery of spiderwebs, dogwoods, peacock
feathers and peonies. Tiffany stated that his lamps allowed more people
to enjoy the elements of nature, such as flowers in bloom, all year long
in the beauty of his glass. In the 1930s and 1940s, Tiffany lamps were
considered too ornate by modern fashion standards and lost their popular
appeal. By the late 1950s, Tiffany objects were rediscovered with great
interest by collectors and museums. In 1998, two Tiffany lamps made the
top ten list of United States auction prices for decorative arts by bringing
in nearly $2 million each.
The Tiffany Studios lamps in the rotating
exhibitions of the museum are fine examples of the high point of Art Nouveau
artistry in glass. You can continue learning about finer antiques and collectibles,
major manufacturers, and design periods on the pages of the Collectics
Reference
& Education Program. Then, find only
the best reference books and price guides in
the Collectics Antiques
& Collectibles Bookstore, compiled by
major dealers and auction houses.
Sell
or consign
your period Tiffany, Handel, Pairpoint, Frankart,
and other vintage lamps & lighting with
an honest and conscientious dealer. Collectics
buys select Tiffany Studios lamps and lighting
as well as other finer antiques; contact
us for more information.
Enter
the Collectics Tiffany Lamps & Favrile Glass
online museum here,
and thanks for visiting and shopping at Collectics!
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