Louis Comfort Tiffany 1848 1933 Louis Comfort Tiffany

Louis Comfort Tiffany 1848 - 1933

Louis Comfort Tiffany • Tiffany was born in New York City. • His father was Charles Tiffany, who founded the famous jewelry business Tiffany’s. He made his fortune selling sword and medallions to the Union Army during the Civil War.

Louis Comfort Tiffany • Tiffany did not have a formal education beyond high school. He did not need to work as he inherited a fortune from his father. • He spent time studying with landscape artist George Inness in New York. • He began painting flowers and trees with water colors and oils. • He studied glass working at the Heidt Glassworks in Brooklyn in the 1870 s.

Louis Comfort Tiffany • He began making stained-glass windows for his father’s friends in 1879. His clients included Mark Twain and Cornelius Vanderbilt. • In 1884, he patented a type of colored glass that was iridescent, it changed colors when viewed from different angles. The color was not only on the surface of the glass, but imbedded within the glass itself. He named this type of glass Favrile glass, from the Old English word, fabrile, meaning handcrafted. • In 1885, he started his own glass company. A new interest in religion spurred the popularity of stainedglass windows. • His windows cost between $3, 300 and $5, 000. However, his business lost money.

Stained Glass Windows The Tree of Life John the Baptist, at Arlington Street Church in Boston

Louis Comfort Tiffany • Today he is remembered for his intricate lamps made from glass. • The lamps were inspired by natural and organic motifs. Designs included turtles, dragonflies, butterflies, and tree shapes, and bamboo. • The Studios’ Lamp Shop, evolved from his window making business, and this business did make money. • He hired expert chemists, glaziers, artists, and glassblowers. His studio experiment with many innovations in glass making, adding color by adding metallic oxides and other chemicals to the sand, lime, and soda that makes up glass.

Tiffany Lamps Laburnum

Tiffany Lamps Peony Table Lamp Hanging-Head Dragonfly Table Lamp

Tiffany Lamps Wisteria Table Lamp Blue Peacock Table Lamp