Tiffany Lamps

Celebrated for its handmade craftsmanship of exquisitely detailed stained-glass shades, the Tiffany lamps keep dazzling as a decorative art icon for over 100 years. Produced at Tiffany Studios, the Tiffany Lamp is celebrated and critically acclaimed due to the use of small, colorful pieces of intricately detailed stained glass, typically atop a bronze base. Created by Louis Comfort Tiffany, the leaded glass lamps remain a fixture in museums and living rooms alike. Bidsquare online auctions has a great selection of Tiffany lamps for sale, many with matching Tiffany fixtures that drive you into a romantic atmosphere, whether these luminaries spread their light in the living room or the veranda. 

An incredibly influential piece within the Art Nouveau movement, each lampshade demonstrates meticulous attention to detail and an innate sense of nature, whether it is made of leaded glass or copper foil. Detailed patterns and motifs invoking the beauty of nature are particularly popular, with daisies and dragonflies serving as popular inspirations.

In addition to the designs of the lamps themselves, the shapes of the lamps are also often inspired by the natural world. Many Tiffany lamp designs look similar to trees, with roots, trunks, and foliage serving as a base, stands, and shades respectively. Besides, many of the shades have irregularly-shaped edges to represent natural forms such as flower petals and butterfly wings. 

As well as nature, Tiffany Studio drew inspiration from geometry in designing a collection of Arts and Crafts style lampshades, while lamps with daffodils, peonies, and poppies reflect an Art Nouveau aesthetic.  These exquisite lamps remain as cherished despite being less ornate than their predecessors. 

Despite the popularity of Tiffany lamps, they did fall out of fashion with time and by 1913, Tiffany Studios ceased its production due to the emergence of Art Moderne and Expressionist movements.  In the 1950s, however, Tiffany lamps saw a resurgence with the rediscovery of these intricate and iconic pieces by museums and antique collectors after the first retrospective exhibition of vintage Tiffany Lamps. In the years following, these antique Tiffany lamps have become collector's items, available in private collections, auction houses, fine art museums, and antique shops. Created today as Tiffany lamp replicas, these pieces evoke the style and spirit of the early 19th-century antique Tiffany lamps. Unlike the original manufacturing techniques, large sheets of stained glass are cut into bits using industrial water jet machines. The individual shards are then assembled by hand by skilled craftsmen to a set design to produce replica Tiffany-style lamps.

Quick Facts about Tiffany Lamps

• Every Tiffany table lamp is assembled and hand welded. 
• The genius behind the iconic designs of Tiffany Lamps is in fact the artist Clara Driscoll.