TIFFANY STUDIOS

Louis Comfort Tiffany, the son of Charles Lewis Tiffany, the founder of Tiffany & Co., was a true artist and the pioneer of using glass as a medium for artistic expression. He embarked on a mission to create his own glass, realizing that inexpensive jars and bottles, with their residual mineral impurities, held great potential for his artistic vision. However, unable to convince conventional glassmakers to embrace this unorthodox approach, Tiffany took matters into his own hands.

In 1885, Tiffany founded the Tiffany Glass Company, which later evolved into the renowned Tiffany Studios in 1902. Initially specializing in stained glass, the studio gradually expanded its catalog to include practical pieces, most notably the iconic and often imitated Tiffany Lamps.

TIFFANY STYLE

Even if one has never laid eyes on an authentic Tiffany Lamp, it is nearly impossible not to have encountered a "Tiffany-style" lamp in hotel rooms, fast food restaurants, and other establishments. The immense popularity of this style has led to an abundance of reproduction pieces flooding the market. Consequently, there has been an ongoing debate surrounding the authenticity of supposed antique Tiffany Lamps, with some estimates suggesting that a mere 4% of lamps believed to be genuine by their owners actually hold true to that claim.

The Tiffany Lamp style is undeniably an embodiment of Art Nouveau, characterized by vibrant and bold colors intricately woven into the glasswork. Just as a discerning eye can easily identify a Clarice Cliff ceramic bowl or plate, a Tiffany Lamp exhibits an unmistakable hallmark of the Tiffany Studios' distinctive aesthetic.

Genuine Tiffany Lamps can command prices exceeding $500,000, prompting adept forgers to produce counterfeit lamps that can deceive even the most knowledgeable collectors. Extreme caution must hence be exercised when considering the purchase of a Tiffany Lamp to ensure authenticity.

THE TYPES OF TIFFANY LAMPS

Tiffany Studios meticulously crafted lamps in six distinct types: floor, desk, hanging shade, wall sconce, table, and chandelier. Of these, the hanging shade and table lamps have become the most frequently replicated designs.

THE ELEMENTS OF A TIFFANY LAMP

THE BASE

Bronze stands as the almost universal material for the base of a Tiffany Lamp, often weighted with a lead ring. Although the studio occasionally experimented with ceramic bases, these pieces, despite their rarity, are not considered particularly collectible and rarely surface in the market. The decision to employ a lead ring as the weight stems from the prohibitively high cost of bronze. Thus, to reduce manufacturing expenses, the bases and stands were crafted with hollow interiors. However, given the considerable heights of some designs, this rendered the lamps inherently unstable. To ensure stability, the less expensive lead was added for additional weight.

Nearly all Tiffany Lamp bases bear the signature "TIFFANY STUDIOS NEW YORK" in uppercase letters, typically accompanied by a numerical marking.

THE GLASS

Depending on the lamp's intended purpose and when it was manufactured, both leaded and blown glass were used for the shades. The designs often incorporated floral motifs and other elements borrowed from nature. Hundreds of individual pieces of colored glass were painstakingly assembled to bring the intricate designs to life. While most designs were intricate and complex, Tiffany also ventured into geometric aesthetics, occasionally utilizing a minimalistic approach with a few large pieces of blown glass. It is these "turtle-back" designs that have become highly sought after by collectors and dealers.

To imbue the finished glass with a stunning iridescent sheen and produce unique color variations, Tiffany and his team often added metallic compounds to the molten glass. Each individual piece was then skillfully welded to its adjacent piece using delicate copper foil, eschewing the traditional lead lining that would have required thicker strips.

Similar to the bases, most glass shades bear the "TIFFANY STUDIOS NEW YORK" signature along the bottom metal rim.

If a Tiffany Lamp exhibits painted glass, it is undoubtedly a counterfeit. Genuine Tiffany Lamps exclusively feature glass that was colored during the manufacturing process, often repurposed from remnants left behind during the creation of stained glass windows by the Tiffany Studios.

THE LEGACY OF TIFFANY STUDIOS

Although Louis Tiffany passed away in 1933, his legacy lives on. Tiffany Lamps, manufactured using his original copper foil techniques, continue to enchant collectors and enthusiasts alike. While demand for these luminous works of art may fluctuate, genuine antique pieces remain highly coveted and sought after.

Moreover, numerous companies produce Tiffany-style lamps that serve as beautiful homages to the originals, albeit sometimes lacking the same level of materials and craftsmanship.