Even if you don’t know anything about home décor or interior design, you probably automatically think of stained glass when you think of Tiffany lamps. The distinctive shades that were handmade from special glass were the hallmark of these lamps, first created in 1895 by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Not only did he create beautiful designs in the glass, but he patented new glass formulas that became popular with artisans of the time and changed the craft.
Tiffany’s goal was to create art that could be found in the average American home, and to put art back into people’s hands. He worked in oils and watercolors first, and then became interested in interior home design. He created designs but also had designers and craftsmen working for him to help him produce the lamps, each of which was carefully created through a special rolled process. The lamps went out of fashion around the time Tiffany died in the early 1930s, because many considered them far too flashy for most homes of the period. But today, original Tiffany lamps sell at auction for tens of thousands of dollars, and some have gone for over 2 million dollars.
Tiffany Lamp Classifications
There are 7 basic categories that these lamps fall into, based on time period and the types of designs Tiffany favored at the time. These categories are mostly self-explanatory:
- Geometric
- Transition to flowers
- Flowered globe
- Flowered cone
- Irregular upper and lower borders
- Irregular lower border
- Favrile – these are some of the earliest Tiffany lamp shades with the most basic, handcrafted designs, and was the name of an early patent
Common motifs and themes in Tiffany lamp shades include things like flowers and foliage, animals and insects like birds and dragonflies.
Tiffany Style Lamps
Most of us can’t afford an authentic piece of this artwork. But Tiffany style lamps, like the quality reproductions produced by the Dale Tiffany Company, stick to the original designs and vision and can bring the beauty of this type of art into your home. Good reproductions will cost a few hundred dollars or more, but cheap imitations won’t have the same quality and rich colors that the originals are known for.
There are Tiffany table lamps and floor lamps to choose from, as well as hanging lamp shades and wall sconces created in the same basic design. When looking for a reproduction, choose a reputable manufacturer if you want to be sure your lamp is well-made. Reproductions sold at places like eBay and various online sites are often poor quality items that are mass-produced and hold none of the charm of the original Tiffany lamps.