Beyond the Box: Tiffany Lamps and the Legacy of Artistry

There is no name more synonymous with New York City than Tiffany. Yes, that powder blue box that makes everyone dream of the glamorous Audrey Hepburn and icons. When one thinks of Tiffany, one immediately imagines diamond bracelets and engraved wedding bands. But beyond the twinkle of emerald cuts and precious stones, the cosmopolitan reader also knows that Tiffany is also synonymous with lamps. But unlike Ikea, these are no ordinary lamps. Tiffany Lamps are the Audrey Hepburn of lamps, elegant and timeless. By all means, stop by Tiffany’s on Fifth Avenue. But note - a treasure of icons - yes, lamps - await you across the park at the New York Historical Society.

For context, let us run through a quick history lesson. Any fan of the Gilded Age on HBO will be familiar with the fact that, during the turn of the century, New York was the battleground for industry titans and the backdrop for society’s most glamorous heiresses. Names like Rockefellars, Vanderbilts, and the Astors ruled the roost, becoming eager patrons of cultural institutions like the Metropolitan Opera and Fine Arts. While these gentlemen and socialites dripped in jewels, they also made sure their homes were ornamented just the same. Art Nouveau, a design movement or like nowadays a micro-core trend, was all the rage in Europe’s aristocratic and bohemian circles. In the melange of the Belle Epoque, the man we will be introduced to in a moment was instrumental in feeding its whimsical and ornate style to the nouveau riche New York. The Eastern Elite hungered to mirror the fancy of Paris and their fellow European counterparts.

Enter artisan Louis Tiffany, son of founder Charles Lewis Tiffany and producer of the legendary Tiffany lamps. Inspired by glassblowers in Brooklyn and craftswork in Africa, Venice, and the Near East, Louis was affiliated with Associated Artists, a prestigious collaboration of aesthetic movement designers. Revolutionary for the time, Monsieur Tiffany employed a studio of working women “The Tiffany Girls”, whom he thought had better eyes and training for creating his innovative, stunning glass wonders. The curation states: “He (Tiffany) formed the Women’s Glass Cutting Department in response to a strike by the male-only Lead Glaziers and Glass Cutters Union in 1892. As an experiment, he hired women with art school training to replace the men, a move that aligned with his view that women were ideally suited to the tasks of glass selection and cutting…The Tiffany Girls were aged 16 and older, some of them from immigrant families. Because the conventions of the day dictated women not work once they married, Driscoll's department experienced constant turnover. Their numbers dwindled following the departure of Clara Driscoll for her own marriage in 1909”.

Clara Driscoll acted as head designer of the department. Under her supervision and leadership, her atelier hand crafted the exquisite lamps out of colored glass and employed the special copper foil technique. She was one of the highest female workers of the time, earning 10,000 per year, equivalent to approximately 380,000 dollars a year. Not bad for a working woman in the 1800s. While there were male workers at Tiffany Studios too, they were designated to design the geometric patterned shades, while the women concentrated on organic shapes. These included naturalistic subjects such as the popular florals. According to the exhibit “The Women’s Glass Cutting Department was based in the Manhattan headquarter, while the Men’s Lamp Department was located until 1909 at the company factory in Corona, Queens. Male workers completed all the lampshades, including floral models with glass selected by the women”. Lamps underwent a finishing process that included molds, immersion into electroplating baths, and a patinated chemical process.

It is difficult to do them justice through photography, so do visit in person and be prepared to be blown away by their ethereal beauty. Highlights include those with the dragonfly and apple blossom motifs. The lavender-hued wisteria lamps are also mainstays and will elicit reactions of awe from viewers. Every glowing piece was intentionally crafted with color and form in mind. Louis C. Tiffany and his studio girls worked with color at the forefront. Shape and form were second considerations. The philosophy was applied throughout the collection, where ember-esque hues emphasised the floral flow. The exhibit delineates “Typically, designers first created a watercolor sketch showing at least one repeat of the shade’s pattern. Then they outlined the design on a three-dimensional plaster model of the shade, painted it with watercolor, and obtained Tiffany’s approval ”. Models included the Roman and Colonial shapes. These lamps were just practical furniture - pieces that serviced the finest home libraries of the day.

Despite their practicality, at the time of their commissions, the lamps were considered high artisan works. Produced by the studio over a brief period of time, they were the rich man’s pleasure. A portion of the current exhibit is dedicated to differentiating between authentic and faux lamps, many of which look reputable. Visitors can play the game of guessing which is which - and to be sure, it is a challenging gamble. The curators state “Numerous competitors produced lamps in the Tiffany style. Later collectors occasionally mistook the imitations for originals. With the surge in the market for Tiffany lamps, fakes began to appear in the early 1980s… These fakes have deceived even seasoned collectors and dealers”. In its heyday, a Tiffany lamp could fetch up to thousands of dollars. Nowadays, they are worth millions. They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but a Tiffany lamp isn’t so bad either. The Tiffany Lamps are an ongoing exhibit available for view at The New York Historical Society.