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.
Tiffany Studios Counterbalance Desk Lamp
By Tiffany Studios
Located in New Orleans, LA
Counter Balance Desk Lamp Louis Comfort Tiffany Circa 1900 Designed by the iconic Louis Comfort Tiffany, this exceptional desk lamp is the pinnacle of Art Nouveau design. The origin...
Bronze
Tiffany Studios Style Art Nouveau Bronze Counterbalance Desk Lamp
By Tiffany Studios
Located in South Bend, IN
A gorgeous Art Nouveau or Arts & Crafts desk lamp or table lamp In the manner of Tiffany Studios USA, Circa Mid-20th Century Bronze base, with gorgeous Louis Comfort Tiffany s...
Bronze
$12,000
H 13 in W 9.5 in D 5.75 in
Tiffany Studios Bronze Desk Lamp on Circular Fluted Base, New York. Circa 1920
By Tiffany Studios
Located in Charleston, SC
Tiffany Studios bronze desk lamp with original iridescent shade, scrolled bulbous harp, and resting on circular fluted base with the original five bal...
Bronze, Wire
Tiffany Studios Bronze and Favrile Table Lamp
By Louis Comfort Tiffany, Tiffany Studios
Located in Dallas, TX
Tiffany Studios Bronze and favrile Desk lamp Damascene iridescent glass with greens, blues, goals and silver. Fine reticulated and patinated bronze base. Original favrile pearl heat cap. Original socket and paddle switch. A rare and fabulous table lamp. New York c. 1910 patinated bronze, Favrile glass Height: 20 Inches (51 cm) Diameter: 7 Inches (18 cm) Impressed to base 'TIFFANY STUDIOS NEW YORK'. Etched to inner top aperture 'L.C.T. Favrile'. Provenance: Private Collection, New York Literature: Tiffany Lamps and Metalware, Alastair Duncan, pg. 90 illustrates base and shade AVANTIQUES is dedicated to providing an exclusive curated collection of Fine Arts, Paintings, Bronzes, Asian treasures, Art Glass and Antiques. Our inventory represents time-tested investment quality items with everlasting decorative beauty. We look forward to your business and appreciate any reasonable offers. All of our curated items are vetted and guaranteed authentic and as described. Avantiques only deals in original antiques and never reproductions. We stand behind our treasures with a full money back return policy if the items are not as described. Tiffany glass refers to the many and varied types of glass developed and produced from 1878 to 1933 at the Tiffany Studios in New York, by Louis Comfort Tiffany and a team of other designers, including Clara Driscoll, Agnes F. Northrop and Frederick Wilson. In 1865, Tiffany traveled to Europe, and in London he visited the Victoria and Albert Museum, whose extensive collection of Roman and Syrian glass made a deep impression on him. He admired the coloration of medieval glass and was convinced that the quality of contemporary glass could be improved upon. In his own words, the "Rich tones are due in part to the use of pot metal full of impurities, and in part to the uneven thickness of the glass, but still more because the glass maker of that day abstained from the use of paint". Tiffany was an interior designer, and in 1878 his interest turned toward the creation of stained glass, when he opened his own studio and glass foundry because he was unable to find the types of glass that he desired in interior decoration. His inventiveness both as a designer of windows and as a producer of the material with which to create them was to become renowned. Tiffany wanted the glass itself to transmit texture and rich colors and he developed a type of glass he called "Favrile". The glass was manufactured at the Tiffany factory...
Bronze
Tiffany Studios “Tyler” Table Lamp
By Tiffany Studios
Located in Dallas, TX
Tiffany Studios New York Tyler Leaded Glass and Patinated bronze Table Lamp, Circa 1900 Art Nouveau. A very special lamp with a geometric monochromatic deep green art glass surround...
Bronze
$7,200
H 4.5 in W 7 in D 7 in
Tiffany Studios Bronze Table Lamp with Contemporary Lundberg Favrile Glass Shade
By Lundberg Studios, Tiffany Studios
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A Tiffany Studios patinated bronze table lamp base marked "Tiffany Studios 606". Paired with a contemporary green favrile oil spot shade signed Lundberg Studios 2015. Its radiant p...
Bronze
Tiffany Studios Turtle Back Table Lamp
By Tiffany Studios
Located in Dallas, TX
Tiffany Studios Turtle Back Table lamp
Bronze
$9,600
H 17 in W 9.3 in D 8 in
20th Century Tiffany Studios Desk Lamp , Gilt Brass Bell-Shaped Shade, Model 424
By Tiffany Studios
Located in Tarry Town, NY
A rare and finely executed early 20th century desk lamp produced by Tiffany Studios in the United States, circa 1910. This lamp represents a significant example of Tiffany Studios’ m...
Brass, Bronze
Rare Green Linenfold Double Student Table Lamp Tiffany Studio
By Tiffany Studios
Located in Atlanta, GA
A Linenfold Favrile glass double student lamp from Tiffany Studio (1878-1933) circa 1910s. This rare model features two matching green colored linenfold glass shades (approximately 9.5" in diameter) supported by rubbed bronze lamp frame and base. The shade each feature twelve glass panels bordered by smaller and thicker upper and lower glass trim panels. There is a loop on top of the frame which was used to move the lamp easily. The arm is free to swing, and the height can also be adjusted. Both shades are marked "TIFFANY STUDIOS PAT. APPL'D FOR". The base is marked "TIFFANY STUDIOS NEW YORK 316". Sockets and wires all appear original and function well. The wire and switch mechanism appear to be original, and the switch takes three turns to switch on the lights, not sure if that was intended. From 1913 to 1914, the independent designer Henry O. Schmidt (1860–1943) patented a new type of mold-cast glass lampshade panels for Tiffany Studios to imitate delicately pleated silk. Under the directorship of Leslie Hayden Nash, Tiffany Studios offered an expanded range of lampshades in this new Favrile Fabrique style including the double student lamp model. The linenfold lamps were retailed at one of the highest prices among Tiffany favrile lamps...
Bronze
$4,295
H 12.5 in W 8.75 in D 6 in
Tiffany Studios New York Bronze Harp Favrile Iridescent Art Glass Desk Lamp
By Tiffany Studios
Located in South Bend, IN
A gorgeous Arts & Crafts or Art Deco period bronze harp desk lamp or table lamp By Tiffany Studios (base signed to the underside) New York, USA, Early 20th Century Patinated bronz...
Bronze
Tiffany Studios New York "Newell Post" Favrile Glass Desk Lamp
By Louis Comfort Tiffany, Tiffany Studios
Located in New York, NY
The "Newell Post" lamp by Tiffany Studios New York, features three gold Favrile glass shades with purple iridescence, suspended from a gilt bronze “Wilson”...
Bronze
Tiffany Studios New York "Damascene Harp" Desk Lamp
By Tiffany Studios, Louis Comfort Tiffany
Located in New York, NY
This desk lamp by Tiffany Studios, dating from circa 1910, features a damascene favrile glass shade on an adjustable patinated bronze harp base. With dichroi...
Bronze
Tiffany Studios New York "Seven-light Lily” Table Lamp
By Tiffany Studios
Located in New York, NY
This Tiffany Studios New York glass and bronze "Seven Light Lily" table lamp, features seven golden iridescent Favrile glass "Lily" shades on individual gilt bronze stems extending u...
Bronze
Tiffany Studios New York "Twelve Light Lily" Table Lamp
By Tiffany Studios
Located in New York, NY
This exquisite Tiffany Studios New York "Twelve-light lily" lamp marks the combination of two of Tiffany's favorite floral motifs, the pond lily, and the morning glory. These shades ...
Bronze
Tiffany Studios New York "Greek Key" Table Lamp
By Tiffany Studios, Louis Comfort Tiffany
Located in New York, NY
An alluring and visually rewarding example of Tiffany Studios New York's great "Greek Key" table lamp. Mottled glass in hues of warm amber and bright sunshine yellow soften the wonde...
Bronze
Tiffany Studios New York "Vine Border" Floor Lamp
By Tiffany Studios
Located in New York, NY
This stunning Tiffany Studios "Vine Border" Harp Floor Lamp features a golden and mottled green grape vines against a mottled golden geometric ground. The vine border pattern was commonly found on Greek red-figure pottery, typically on vessels meant for storing or mixing wine. On such vessels, dionysiac groups of maenads and satyrs would carry grapevine branches and thyrsi, wands wound with grape leaves, carried during festivals and religious ceremonies. Item #: L-21750 Artist: Tiffany Studios New York Country: United States Circa: 1900 Dimensions: 12" diameter, 57.5" height. Materials: Bronze, Favrile Glass Shade Signed: Tiffany Studios New York Base Signed: Tiffany Studios New York Literature: A similar shade and base are pictured separately in: Tiffany Lamps and Metalware: An illustrated reference to over 2000 models, by Alastair Duncan, Woodbridge: Suffolk: Antique Collectors’ Club, 1988. Shade: p. 125, plate 527 ; base: p. 210, plate 820. Macklowe Gallery Curator's Notes: As a born artist, Louis Tiffany’s love...
Bronze
After synthetic dyes changed fashion, home goods and printed matter, it was only a matter of time till glass caught up.
The 1920s design is a thrilling combination of saturated colors, ancient motifs and modern aesthetics.
