Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of Tiffany Lamp Co. in 1837, succeeded in presenting the elite with timeless handcrafted silver jewelry. The renowned blue box with white ribbon continues to be the staple for Tiffany Lamp Co., drawing in buyers since the beginning, attracting luminaries such as Queen Victoria of England, and even in the modern age keeps with Tiffany’s vision of exquisite, enduring pieces of jewelry.
Tiffany’s son, Louis Comfort Tiffany didn’t live in his father’s shadow; in fact, he prospered in the the art world, with stained glass artwork and mosaics. He was born on February 18, 1848 in New York City, and it wasn’t long before he strayed from the family business.
Tiffany began his studies under American landscape artist George Inness in 1866 at the age of 18, absorbing the concepts of composition, color and technique. In his 20’s, he traveled to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Fortunately, due to his family’s prosperity, Comfort was able to visit Europe more than once between 1865 and 1872. It was during these trips, that Tiffany began to study Islamic architecture, Romanesque and Moorish artwork and Japanese ceramics.
His studies in stained glass began in 1872 at the age of 24. Upon returning to America, he dived into experiments with iridescent glass by combining heated glass, fumes and metallic oxides. These experiments were conducted with painter John La Farge; Tiffany and La Farge studied glass making at the Heidt Glassworks in Brooklyn, New York.
In 1879, Tiffany founded the Louis C. Tiffany Company, Associated Arts which decorated private and public buildings. Fascinated by ancient Greek and Roman glass that had been buried for years, Tiffany’s pursuit to duplicate an iridescent finish became his obsession and by 1880 he had applied for several patents on this type of finish.
Tiffany’s design of stained glass windows became ever popular and he came up with an innovative idea to use the bits of glass left over to create stunning Tiffany lamps. During a job lighting the first movie theater, Tiffany worked with Thomas Edison. Surging together with Edison, the two designed electric lamps. This great partnership influenced Tiffany to continue creating lamps, and his mini stain glass designs took the nation by storm. Tiffany Lamps were either designed by Tiffany himself or by artists that were fully under his supervision, and with unparalleled craftsmanship.
During the 1930’s and 1940’s the status of Tiffany Style Lamps gave way to the popular Art Moderne and Expressionism styles. Tiffany Lamps were considered too ornate for the emerging décor, and it wasn’t until the 1950’s that the “light came back on.” Collectors and museums popularized the mosaic beauties once again, and in 1998 two lamps sold for nearly 2 million dollars apiece.
Innovative, with a true passion for his craft, Louis C. Tiffany’s lighting concepts are still relevant today and an original Tiffany lamp remains a sought after commodity. With his passion for color, nature and illumination, Tiffany turned the light on for a nation, showing elegance through breath-taking bits of glass.
