Tiffany Lamps Explained

Tiffany lamps are lamps originally created by a famous, prestigious American artist called Louis Comfort Tiffany (son of the founder of the famous jewelry store Tiffany & Co.).

Louis loved beautiful things, especially stained glass windows, so he set himself a goal to allow American homeowners to share in the beauty of stained glass by making stained glass lamps.

But he wasn't content in sacrificing the colors and intricate detail of his lamp designs by using the old method of stained glass (painting clear glass). So he came up with an innovative way of creating stained glass lamps...copper-foil technique. This stained glass technique put colors and hues in glass that hadn't been seen until Louis came along.

The lamps Louis Tiffany produced (Tiffany lamps) were generally unique one-of-a-kind stained-glass lamp shades with ornate bronze bases.

This method allowed him to produce beautiful stained glass mosaics such as the dragonfly and the wisteria lamps.

Some of the Lamp designs created by Louis C. Tiffany are:-

• Acorn
• Small Stick
• Greek Urn
• Apple Blossom
• Arrowroot
• Azalea
• Black bamboo
• Bamboo

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Explaining the Different Tiffany Lamp Shades

Geometric Glass shades

These are leaded lamp shades with simple designs using basic shapes such as squares, triangles, rectangles and ovals. These shade were made from pieces of poured glass, that were cut in segments and edged with copper foil... which were then soldered together.

The solder line was pasted in a patina bronze finish or "rinse" to make the lead or solder blend in with the colors of the lamp shade.

 

Floral Design Shades

These type of shade are a combination or blend of geometric and floral

patterns. The shade is globe-shaped, with a basic geometric design with floral, vine or leaf patterns over the geometric background.

There are two categories within the floral shades... the scattered floral or leaf pattern over a geometric background and the geometric background with a border (belt) of flowers and vines -- called "belted floral shades.

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Cone Shaped Shade

These shades extensively use floral patterns. They have straight sides with circular rims. (It's more expensive to create the curved or rounded shades). this is why you'll see quite a large number of shades made in this shape!

Geometric shades can also come in a cone shape, however, their called geometric shades because tiffany lamp shades are named for their design rather than their shape hence being called geometric shades.

The dragonfly design has a cone shaped shade. It's the design that Tiffany was very fond of, so you'll find that these designs were applied to the better cone-shaped shades. The dragonfly shades are very desirable and so they sell for a high price.

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Globe Shaped Shades

These shades were more difficult to construct but had greater detail than the cone shaped shades. Because of the shape of the lamp shade (dome shaped) it allowed the artists to create a much more realistic scene of floral and insects.

These lamp shades range in size from 12 inches to 28 inches in diameter. These shades are a good choice for large floor lamps.

 

Irregular Lower Border Shades

These shades have greater natural form... they have flowing, serpentine meandering rims. The lower border is a curved irregular shape. These shades with the curved irregular borders tend to be globe shaped.

 

Irregular Upper & Lower Shades

These are the most sophisticated and complex shades. They have both irregular upper and lower borders. The upper region of the shade has an openwork crown that looks like tree branches. The Tiffany "Wisteria" lamp shade is a perfect example of this type of shade. An original Tiffany "Wisteria" lamp is one of the most sought after and valuable stained glass Tiffany lamp ever produced.

These type of shades are mainly floral, that come in many colors. From beautifully and intricately cut with positioned pale pastels, to very rich, deep colors.

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