The Tiffany Family

Louis Comfort Tiffany was most famous for his stained glass lamp shades and stained glass windows which he produced as part of his interior design firm located in New York. Born into a family familiar with high quality art items, Tiffany at a young age wanted to become a painter.

When he was unsuccessful and possibly discouraged, he switched paths and instead started up his own design firm. From 1893 to 1929, he innovated heavily in the area of glassware, giving us the now-famous lead-rod stained glass windows and characteristic Tiffany lamps.

The Father

His father was Charles Tiffany, founder of a luxury goods store whose namesake graces the jeweller that supplies very high-end, high quality metal jewelry and precious gem stones. Louis Tiffany himself was famous for drawing inspiration from scenes of nature, and many of his works, including his lamp shades, contained elements of nature. For example, he frequently applied floral and leaf decoration to his lamp shades. Shapes like flowers and applique flowers adorned his creations. His works inspired other artists to create floral-themed art.

A New Style

In the 1900s, Tiffany started produced stained glass lamp shades which were made in the style of stained glass windows. One of his most famous creations, made for the Tiffany Exhibition at the Chrysler museum of art, was a dragonfly lamp. The lamp was made in 1910 in Tiffany's New York Studio, and is reminiscent of his nature-inspired art works. The lamp is adorned with eight dragonflies arranged around a translucent glass lamp shade. In the center, a dragonfly pendant hangs from a hook. Countless glass houses have duplicated this for clients interested in acquiring the unique style and flavor of Tiffany's creations.

The Enduring Art

Nowadays Tiffany's lamp shades and replicas of his glass lamp shades have become famous world wide. They are highly sought-after objects, wanted for the uniqueness of the art and vision they inspire in others.