Tiffany Lamps are Ornate Furniture that Lights up the Room

Cathedrals the world over are revered for their exquisite architecture and fine stained glass. Each pane of glass, hand-blown by glassmakers to create detailed emotive artworks. Louis Tiffany, of the famed New York, Tiffany jeweler family, sought to bring this nearly dead art into the average home by designing a lamp that encased a light in intricately designed stained glass. The once tiresome, functional lamp was to become an ornate piece of furniture. Thomas Edison did not foresee his humble light bulb housed in such a way.

At the Paris Exposition in 1900, Tiffany launched what is now known as the Tiffany Lamp. Just the coloration in the glass was a breakthrough innovation in lighting as many Victorian lamps were made up of just four clear sides. Now, many pieces of colored glass were fused together to create anything the imagination cared for, colored table lamps, desk lamps, floor lamps, fireplace screens, chandeliers, anything that could be made, was. This style and tradition celebrated its centenary at the turn of the millennium and today new pieces are in production. There are modern twists to the traditional, Victorian pieces with more contemporary lines.

The most recognizable Tiffany piece is the Wisteria Lamp. A desk lamp traditionally atop a wide bronze base, the shade is made up of multiple pieces of colored glass to give the appearance of a flower. Some of the top Tiffany designers made these lamps with more than 1,000 pieces of glass, each hand-made to specification. This piece exemplified the Art Deco era of the 1920’s Lighting ceased to be boring and staid. It became an artists treasure trove, a feast for collectors, and new attraction for ladies who were fascinated by jeweler and glamour.