The hand-crafted kerosene and early electric lighting fixtures created at Tiffany Studios now rank among the most coveted decorative objects in the world. Tiffany designs of any kind are emblematic of taste and craftsmanship, and Tiffany glass refers to far more than stained-glass windows and decorative glass objects. The iconic multimedia manufactory’s offerings include stained-glass floor lamps, chandeliers and enameled metal vases. The most recognizable and prized of its works are antique Tiffany Studios table lamps.
The name Tiffany generally prompts thoughts of two things: splendid gifts in robin’s-egg blue boxes and exquisite stained glass. In 1837, Charles Lewis Tiffany co-founded the former — Tiffany & Co., one of America’s most prominent purveyors of luxury goods — while his son, Louis Comfort Tiffany, is responsible for exemplars of the latter.
Louis was undoubtedly the most influential and accomplished American decorative artist in the decades that spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rather than join the family business, he studied painting with several teachers, notably the scenic painter Samuel Colman, while spending long periods touring Europe and North Africa. Though he painted his entire career, visits to continental churches sparked a passionate interest in stained glass. Tiffany began experimenting with the material and in 1875 opened a glass factory-cum-laboratory in Corona, Queens — the core of what eventually became Tiffany Studios.
In his glass designs, Tiffany embraced the emerging Art Nouveau movement and its sinuous, naturalistic forms and motifs. By 1902, along with glass, Tiffany was designing stained-glass lamps and chandeliers as well as enameled metal vases, boxes and bowls, and items such as desk sets and candlesticks. Today such pieces epitomize the rich aesthetics of their era.
The lion’s share of credit for Tiffany Studios table lamps and other fixtures has gone to Louis. However, it was actually Clara Driscoll (1861–1944), an Ohio native and head of the Women’s Glass Cutting Department for 17 years, who was the genius behind the Tiffany lamps that are most avidly sought by today’s collectors. A permanent gallery of Tiffany lamps at the New-York Historical Society celebrates the anonymous women behind the desirable fixtures.
Find antique Tiffany Studios lamps, decorative glass objects and other works on 1stDibs.
$9,500 / set
H 0.38 in W 21.13 in D 18.88 in
Tiffany Studios New York Zodiac Bronze Nine-Piece Desk Set, Circa 1910
By Tiffany Studios
Located in South Bend, IN
A gorgeous Arts & Crafts or Art Nouveau period "Zodiac" bronze desk set. The nine-piece set includes: large inkwell, pen brush, two letter racks, pair of bookends, stamp box, notepad...
Bronze
$5,995 / set
H 0.38 in W 28.5 in D 19.5 in
Tiffany Studios New York Zodiac Bronze Six-Piece Desk Set, Circa 1910
By Tiffany Studios
Located in South Bend, IN
An outstanding Art & Crafts or Art Deco period "Zodiac" patinated bronze desk set. The six-piece set includes: picture frame, stamp box, inkwell, pen tray, match stand, and set of fo...
Bronze
Antique Tiffany Studios Zodiac 6-Piece Bronze Doré Desk Set
By Tiffany Studios
Located in Cincinnati, OH
This lovely 6-piece bronze doré desk set was made by Tiffany Studios of New York. The early 20th-century set has a warm golden finish with its original patina and has been made in Tiffany's popular Zodiac motif featuring stylized depictions of the 12 signs of the Zodiac set in ovoid cartouches. The Zodiac signs are set amongst intricate Celtic-style knots. The desk set is comprised of a 2-row letter rack, a pair of desk blotter ends, a pen tray, a letter opener, and a large inkwell fitted with a hinged lid. The inkwell comes complete with its original clear glass ink reservoir. This particular selection of pieces is quite practical and represents an ideal manner in which to start a collection of Tiffany Zodiac desk set...
Bronze
Tiffany Studios Bronze Gold Dore Desk Set
By Tiffany Studios
Located in Greer, SC
9-Piece Tiffany Studios Bronze Desk Set which includes: Letter Holder, Notepad Holder, Letter Opener, Stamp Box, Pen Tray, Blotter, Ink Well, Vase Base, Nut Bowl with Scalloped Edges
Bronze
Tiffany Studios New York “American Indian” Bronze Desk Set, circa 1905
By Tiffany Studios
Located in Autonomous City Buenos Aires, CABA
Exceptional and rare multi-piece bronze desk set by Tiffany Studios, New York, executed in the sought-after “American Indian” pattern, circa 1905–1915. This sculptural Arts & Cra...
Bronze
Tiffany Studios New York Six Piece Brass Zodiac Desk Set, Circa 1900
By Tiffany Studios
Located in San Antonio, TX
Antique six piece Zodiac Desk Set by Tiffany Studio of New York is made of brass and is has a warm gold coloring with age-appropriate patina depicting ...
Brass
Tiffany Studios New York 7-Piece "Pond Lily" Desk Set
By Louis Comfort Tiffany, Tiffany Studios
Located in New York, NY
Tiffany Studios’ Pond Lily Desk Set is a rare model, with only three extant sets known. The set is decorated with a dazzling array of lily pads, lily buds, dragonflies, and moths. The dragonfly and moth was a leitmotif of the Art Nouveau, but Louis Tiffany encountered the creatures and explored their form and significance throughout his childhood and artistic life, beginning as a youngster who sketched au plein air in the woods and wetlands surrounding his father’s summer house. At his Laurelton Hall estate, an artwork of nature coaxed into form over decades, Tiffany observed these insects in the teeming saltwater marshes and wetlands of Oyster Bay. The crown jewel of his Laurelton Hall garden was a water lily pond filled with varieties of colored water lilies, a novelty that debuted at the 1900 Exposition Universelle. Tiffany proceeded to make a series of designs based on the pond lily which he displayed to much acclaim in the 1902 Turin Prima Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Decorativa Moderna. Product Details: Item #: T-21399 Artist: Tiffany Studios New York Country: United States Circa: 1905 Materials: Patinated Bronze Signed: blotter ends, inkstand, calendar frame, pen tray and rocker blotter each impressed "Tiffany Studios New York"; the inkstand, pen tray, rocker blotter and blotter ends further impressed with firm's respective model numbers Literature: Martin Eidelberg, Nina Gray and Margaret K. Hofer, A New Light on Tiffany...
Bronze
$9,995 / set
H 0.38 in W 24 in D 12.13 in
Tiffany Studios New York Pine Needle Bronze Doré and Slag Glass Nine-Piece Desk
By Tiffany Studios
Located in South Bend, IN
A gorgeous antique Arts & Crafts or Art Nouveau period "Pine Needle" gilt bronze and Favrile slag glass desk set. The nine-piece set includes: inkwell, pen brush, letter rack, pen tr...
Bronze
$5,950 / set
H 4 in W 9.75 in D 12.13 in
Tiffany Studios Pine Needle Bronze and Slag Seven-Piece Desk Set
By Tiffany Studios
Located in Northport, MI
An exceptional seven-piece desk set by Tiffany Studios New York, crafted circa early 20th century in the iconic Pine Needle Pattern. This finely detailed ensemble features warm bronz...
Bronze
$6,500 / set
H 6.25 in W 10 in D 2.5 in
Tiffany Studios New York Pine Needle Bronze Doré and Favrile Slag Glass Desk Set
By Tiffany Studios
Located in South Bend, IN
A gorgeous antique Arts & Crafts or Art Nouveau period "Pine Needle" gilt bronze and Favrile slag glass desk set. The five-piece set includes: inkwell, letter rack, stamp box, rocker...
Bronze
