History of Louis Comfort Tiffany

Most people think of Tiffany as being jewelry or Tiffany Studios lamps. When talking about the stunning stained glass lamps and windows, you would be thinking of Louis Comfort Tiffany who created and produced these items in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Louis Comfort Tiffany was born to an affluent family in New York on February 18, 1848. He was known to have created these beautiful pieces of art for presidents and royalty such as Queen Victoria, the queen of England. At the age of 18, he studied art under George Inness, an American landscape artist. Between 1865 and 1872, Tiffany traveled to Europe four times. He studied Islamic architecture, Romanesque, Moorish art and Japanese ceramics. At the age of 24, after returning from Europe, he studied glass and mosaics and conducted experiments with hot glass exposed to fumes and metallic oxides. He began his pottery observations and experimentation at the age of 50. Over many years, the Tiffany Studio produced many stained glass lamps and windows among other pieces of art. He was one of the first to create electrical “home illumination” stained glass lamps for commercial use. Tiffany wanted to be able to supply his stained glass electrical lamps to everyone at any economic level and he did sometimes at the expense of company profits. He made most of his lamps between 1895 and 1920. Art Nouveau is known for its sensuous curving and flowing designs with organic forms such flowers, leaves, dragonflies, butterflies, peacocks and spiders with webs. Tiffany incorporated this style into his lamps. He also produced stained glass lamps with the geometric lines of the Art Deco period. His stained glass lamps and other pieces of art were prized and appreciated all over the world as they are today through reproductions. His career lasted 50 years and he is known to have worked with L. C. Tiffany & Association Artists, the Tiffany Glass Company, Tiffany Studios, Tiffany Furnaces and L. C. Tiffany Furnaces. He died at the age of 85 on January 17, 1933.