Glass Encyclopedia
Glass Encyclopedia above: vase by Louis Comfort Tiffany
|
Tiffany Glass: A short explanation: Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) was the creative genius son of a famous New York jeweller. His flamboyant sumptuous lifestyle and family connections with the artistic world in Europe and America, coupled with his talent and dedication, took him to a leading position in the Art Nouveau movement. Starting his career as a talented painter in the late 1860's, he travelled extensively overseas and at the age of 31 (in 1879) moved into interior design; from the mid-1880's onwards he moved more and more into specialising in glass. Tiffany was greatly influenced by the glass he saw on his travels to Europe. Two major influences were the art nouveau glass being produced in France by Galle and in Austria by Loetz and others; and the ancient Roman and Egyptian glass which was being excavated from North Africa and the Middle East at that time. Tiffany was also influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain, with their beliefs in a return to hand crafting and their aim to make art more widely available. Like others affected by this movement, he sought to combine his own artistic design talent with the hand-crafting skills of a production team of artisans supported by automated machinery. The outcome, as with his great contemporaries in Europe (notably Lalique and Galle) was a split output; on the one hand the master's own genius-creations and on the other hand a large amount of "industrial" items made to his designs. In Tiffany's case these included most of his lamps and many small glass vessels. Today, of course, any piece of genuine Tiffany output is treasured and commands a relatively high price, and the museum-quality pieces reach astronomical figures at auction. Prices have been increasing steadily since the 1960's. Even at the time it was made, Tiffany glass was expensive and remained the prerogative of the very rich. Indeed, Tiffany himself took actions which kept the value of his glass pieces high. He donated examples of his work to all the major museums, and if one of his vases stayed too long on retailers' shelves, he recalled it. Tiffany incorporated leaded glass features and glass tiles into his interior designs and developed special glass for this purpose, using the facilities at Heidt Glassworks in Brooklyn. He opened his own glass company in 1885 producing his glass tiles and the special glass for his great leaded windows and screens. Many of these depicted landscapes and scenes of flowers, trees, water and birds. |
|
Glass Encyclopedia Click here for the full list of latest topics or click on any of the following links: Advertising glass Akro Agate glass Amberina glass American glass Apothecary glass Apsley Pellatt glass Art Deco glass Art nouveau glass Arts and Crafts glass Baccarat glass Bagley glass Barolac glass Beads (glass) Bimini glass Blenko glass Books on glass Bottles (glass) Boyd's Crystal Glass Brierley Crystal glass E O Brody glass Bubble glass Burtles Tate glass Caithness glass Cameo glass Cameo incrustations Carnival glass Cast glass Chance glass Charder glass Cire Perdue glass Cloud glass Cobalt blue glass Consolidated Contemporary glass Coralene glass Coudersport glass Crackle glass Cranberry glass Custard glass Cut crystal glass Daum glass Davidson's glass Depression glass Dew drop glass Dorothy Thorpe glass Drinking glasses Dumps EAPG glassware End-of-day glass Etling glass European glass Fairy Lights Federal glass Fenton glass Fire-King glass Flygsfors glass Fostoria glass French glass Fry Glass Galle Glass Glass hand vases Glass-working Glass Dumps Gold ruby glass Goofus Glass Gray-stan glass Greeners glass Hand vases Hazel Atlas glass Heisey glass Historismus glass Hobnail glass Hunebelle glass Imperial glass Intaglio glass Irradiated glass Italian glass Jack-in-Pulpit glass Jade glass James Derbyshire Jeannette Glass Joblings glass Joe Rice glass John Derbyshire J Walsh Walsh glass Kemple glass King's Lynn glass Lalique glass Leerdam glass Le Verre Francais L G Wright glass Libbey glass Libensky glass Lobmeyr glass Loetz or Lotz glass Lost wax technique Malachite glass Manchester glass Marbles (glass) Marqueterie de Verre Mary Gregory glass Mdina glass Mercury glass Milk glass Molineux Webb glass Monart glass Murano glass Nailsea glass New Zealand glass Northwood glass Opalescent glass Orient & Flume glass Orplid glass Orrefors glass Pallme-Konig glass Paperweights Pate de Verre Peachblow glass Pearline glass Percival Yates & Vickers Perthshire Paperw'ts Phoenix glass Pictures on glass Pilgrim glass Pirelli glass Powell glass Riverside glass Reverse paint on glass Rose bowls Royal Brierley glass Sabino glass Scandinavian glass Schneider glass Shoes in glass Silhouettes on glass Silvered glass Silver overlay glass Slag glass Sowerby glass Spatter glass Stained glass St Clair glass Steuben Glass Stevens & Williams Strathearn glass Stretch glass Sulphides in glass Sun changed glass Thomas Webb glass Tiara glass Tiffany glass Toothpick Holders Tortoiseshell glass Tudor Crystal glass Uranium glass Val St Lambert glass Vasart glass Vaseline glass Venetian glass Venini glass Verlys glass Videos on Glass Vistosi Glass Vitro Porcelain Glass Waterford Crystal Webb Corbett glass Webb, Thomas glass Wedgwood glass Westmoreland glass Whitefriars glass WMF glass Ysart glass Useful glass links Glass Message Board Glass Museum on Line
|
Tiffany designed beautiful lamps, typically having ornate art nouveau bronze bases and leaded glass shades with floral designs. These lamp shades were made by girls in a production workshop who were encouraged to use their own creativity in choosing and fitting together the glass mosaic pieces to produce the intended design. In this sense, every Tiffany lamp is unique and hand-crafted. In 1892 he set up a glassworks at Corona, Long Island to make glass vessels in additiont to his decorative glasses. He encouraged Arthur Nash, from Webb's glassworks in England, to emigrate to the States and together they formed the "The Stourbridge Glass Company" glassworks on Long Island. His delicate, irridized, vases which have a magical metallic sheen in hues of gold or blue, were immensely popular. If you are looking for Tiffany glass, you can usually find items on offer on ebay (click here to see Tiffany glass listings on ebay). The items below are for sale right now on eBay - we thought you would like to see them. Remember that there are several sources of reproduction Tiffany glass, especially the Tiffany glass lamps. These are very attractive and much cheaper than the originals. References and sources: 1: Victor Arwas "Tiffany: all colour paperback" Academy Publications, 1979 2: Duncan, Eidelberg, and Harris "Masterworks of Louis Comfort Tiffany" Thames and Hudson, 1989 3: Vivienne Couldrey "The art of Louis Comfort Tiffany" Wellfleet Press 1989 4: Norman Potter and Douglas Jackson "Tiffany" Pyramid 1988. 5: Tessa Paul "The Art of Louis Comfort Tiffany" Apple Press 1987. Here are some beautiful books on Tiffany and his glass. Click on the book covers below to read more about a particular book, including price and any available discounts for buying on-line. 
 
If you have never tried an on-line auction, explore ebay, - still the best! Type what you are searching for in this box: FIND GLASS on ebay! Take a quick look at your kind of glass in Angela's Designer Searches - save time and don't miss an opportunity even when you are busy! - CLICK HERE INFORMATION about Bagley Glass!
Tiara Glass Collectors' INFORMATION
You may often find a bargain on half.com. Click on this logo to try. Copyright (c) 1998 - 2008 Angela M. Bowey. All rights reserved. Copying material from this page for reproduction in any format is expressly forbidden. Web site designed by: Angela M. Bowey. URL to this page: http://www.glassencyclopedia.com/Tiffanyglass.html |
