An art that was not mass or machine produced; the Tiffany Lamp established its pedigree as meticulously created furnishings that were themselves pieces of art. Louis C. Tiffany's watchful eye ensured that his vision was perfectly executed by his team of more than 300 artists within Tiffany Studios. However, somewhere in the inner-workings of Tiffany Studios, another original craftsman and artist was ready to put her stamp on the history of the Tiffany lamp.
Clara Driscoll, an accomplished artist herself and head of the Women's Glass Cutting Department at Tiffany Studios, was recently discovered to be the driving force behind some of the most beloved Tiffany lamp designs ever created at Tiffany Studios.
The creation of an individual Tiffany lamp was a time consuming effort. The designs can be separated into six categories based on the patterns and methods used to create the lamp.
Irregular Upper & Lower Border
Favrile
Geometric
Transition to Flowers
Flowered Cone
Flowered Globe
The irregular upper and lower border Tiffany style lamps were the most complex to create. This style was refined, with uneven borders, and an openwork crown intended to have the appearance of tree branches. Heat and light vented through the top crown. An example of this style is the Wisteria pattern. It is the one of the more renowned styles of the Tiffany lamp, still highly coveted today by collectors
.Favrile was the first style that Tiffany created and coined. Favrile means handcrafted. This patented design is recognizable by its iridescent colored glass that was merged while at extreme heat. Not only was this Favrile process used for lamp shades, but for Tiffany stained glass and vases.
The geometric category was mainly created by male artisans that Tiffany employed. Utilizing squares, triangles, rectangle and ovals, the lamp shades were created in a symmetrical pattern. The Greek Key pattern is a popular example of this type of work.
Transition to flowers is furthered divided into the flowered cone and flowered globe categories. All of these lamps capture nature or botanical themes using flowers, spiders, butterflies, peacock feathers and dragonflies. Dragonfly is a renowned Tiffany style lamp that was created by Driscoll that qualifies as an example of Transition to Flowers.
Every lamp was created using the copper foil method. The pattern was drawn out of a heavy piece of cardboard. After sketching was completed and individual glass components were labeled, the glass was put in placed based on the design and traced. The chunks of glass were then cut out and ground to create the shape.
The pieces were then cleaned in preparation for the copper foil solution that was used to fuse the pieces together. With the addition of the copper foil solution, the glass was joined together. Next up was the soldering process, and finally the lamp shade was cleaned.
Original and inspired, Tiffany Studios thrived to create one-of-a-kind masterpieces that brought light to the American home. These qualities of unrelenting passion for excellence are the reason why Tiffany lamps are sought and admired to this day.
Tiffany Lamps are an attractive addition to any home that can enhance decorative styles with variations from the masculine geometric to the whimsy of nature. At TiffanyLampStyle.com you can find handmade Meyda Tiffany Lamps that are still built using the same copperfoil methods employed by the artists of Tiffany Studios.
Rob Mabry is a former Army journalist, writer and entrepreneur who enjoys writing about art, history, technology and film.
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