Stained Glass Lamps

The most famous Stained glass lamps are those from Tiffany.


Louis Comfort Tiffany was the eldest son of Charles Tiffany, the founder of Tiffany & Co, the famous jewellery empire. Louis Comfort Tiffany did not go into the family jewellery business and instead worked in oil and water colour paintings and in the 1880’s he began to focus on interior design.

He had been making stained glass windows since 1878, and in the 1890’s he experimented with off cuts of glass making them into stained glass lamp shades. He began to collaborate with Tomas Edison, who was emerging as a leader of the electrical age, to join these lamp shades to electrical fittings. These he felt were miniature versions of his stained glass windows.

All Tiffany lamps were made by hand and no form of mass manufacture was used. While they were called Tiffany lamps, very few were made by Tiffany himself. Instead he supervised a team of designers and craftsmen to create his iconic pieces. He toured and exhibited his work around the world gaining many design prizes. While the lampshades were the main part of his business they did also make a full range of interior objects.

At the time Tiffany’s lamps were gaining popularity the age of Art Nouveau with its flowing lines was emerging. Tiffany’s stained glass lamps reflected this style and continue to be closely associated with the Art Nouveau period.

Tiffany put a lot of effort into developing new techniques to produce stronger coloured glass and different affects to add something different to his stained glass lamp shades. He managed to get four new types of glass approved by the US patent office. The Tiffany production facilities closed down in 1932 and Louis Comfort Tiffany died in 1933.

Tiffany Lamps are highly prized and continue to have a strong resale value amongst collectors and admirers alike.