tiffany Archives

Color is to the Eye what Music is to the Ear

Louis Comfort Tiffany, 1848-1933

The son of Charles Tiffany, the celebrated jeweler and founder of Tiffany & Co., Louis Comfort Tiffany was an artist, innovator, and pioneer of form and color. Born in New York City in 1848, he began his career as a painter in the late 1860s, studying under a series of masters.

This stunning Tiffany Studios Peony table lamp sold for $201,600
at Rago Auctions in July against a presale estimate of $60,000-$80,000.

In the mid-1870s, he turned his attention away from painting and toward the family business of decorative arts and interior design. He built a strong reputation, even participating in the 1882 redecoration of the White House.

Despite being highly regarded for his interior design work, Tiffany was increasingly drawn to art glass production, working for several glass manufacturers from 1875-1878 and honing his skills to bring him the greatest recognition. In 1881, he filed his first patent in glass production, pioneering a new method in glass-tiled mosaic design. In 1885, Tiffany opened an affiliated interior design company, Tiffany Glass Company, which later changed its name to Tiffany Studios. This new company specialized in designing private interiors and public spaces, working with numerous clients, including the Art Institute of Chicago.

In 1892, Tiffany received a patent for a new technique in glass production that established his place in art glass history: Favrile blown glass. Favrile glass is created by treating molten glass with metallic oxides to create a colored glass. Before the invention of Favrile glass, iridescent art glass was made by simply applying color, in the form of paint or enamel, over a piece of colorless glass. Tiffany displayed his Favrile glass at the 1900 Paris Exhibition, where it won the Grand Prize.

This exceptional Tiffany Studios Lotus Pagoda table lamp, c. 1910, 26 1/2 in.
h. by 26 1/4 in. dia., sold for $189,000 at Rago Auctions in March 2024.

In 1898, Tiffany Studios began manufacturing lighting fixtures and lamps. A year later, Tiffany added enamelwork to his firm’s repertoire and, later, ceramics. He continued to advance the use of Favrile glass, designing glass mosaics for use in interior settings and innovating as he did with new modeling, shading, and cutting techniques. Upon his father’s death in 1902, Tiffany assumed the roles of Vice President and Art Director of Tiffany & Co. He watched the company’s bottom line fastidiously, ending production of any item that went unsold for one year.

No amount of careful accounting could safeguard Tiffany Studios against the shift in public taste during the 1920s. The scrolls and natural curves integral to Tiffany’s designs gave way to the right angles of Modernism. Tiffany Studios declared bankruptcy in 1932. Louis C. Tiffany died a year later, personally bankrupt and in relative obscurity. That obscurity was not to last; scholars rediscovered Tiffany’s work in the 1950s, followed by the art market a decade later.

Today works by Louis Comfort Tiffany and Tiffany Studios are highly sought after in the modern art market. Collectors value them for their high production quality, intricate, nature-inspired designs, and stunning use of colored glass.

Fontaine’s Fine & Decorative Arts auction on Sept. 28 will include a pair of Louis Tiffany & Associated
Artists lanterns from the Cornelius Vanderbilt II Mansion (above left, estimate $80,000-$100,000);
a Tiffany Studios Peony Floor Lamp (above right, estimate $125,000-$175,000) and Tiffany Studios
“Four Seasons” entryway from St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church (above, $75,000-$100,000). For
more information on the event, go to the website.

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Tiffany Studios

Eclectic Tiffany

Tiffany Style Lamp

Louis C. Tiffany

People sometimes confuse Tiffany & Co., the retail store with a flagship location in New York City, with Louis Comfort Tiffany, the designer and glass artist. The store was founded in 1837 by Charles L. Tiffany (1812–1902), and John B. Young. It was originally called Tiffany & Young. Stationery and “fancy dry goods” were sold, […]

Kovels On Antiques & Collectibles May 2021 Newsletter Now Available

Kovels On Antiques & Collectibles newsletter is available as a print subscription, or as a digital version that is included in the Kovels Knowledge and Kovels All Access memberships. Start your Kovels Knowledge Free Trial now or login.

Kovels’ May 2021 newsletter features Tiffany lamps and décor, the modernist jewelry of Mildred Ball, the midcentury furnishings of George Nelson, Southern folk art pottery, and vintage license plates, all with photos and prices.

Lamps with leaded glass shades, candlesticks, and other beautiful and useful objects made by Louis Comfort Tiffany, Tiffany Studios and Tiffany & Co. sold at auction in California and are featured in a sale report in Kovels On Antiques & Collectibles May 2021 newsletter. Pictured are lamps, Favrile glass vases, candleholders and desk accessories in iconic Tiffany designs that sold for thousands and tens of thousands of dollars.

Auction prices are rising for pieces by modernist jewelry designer Mildred Ball. Nearly 20 lots of her jewelry sold in Indiana where prices ranged from $150 to over $1,100. See a number of Mildred Ball pendants, choker necklaces and a bolo tie in her signature style with large and colorful polished stones in Kovels’ May newsletter, along with the paneled bracelet with abstract enamel decoration that took top price honors at the auction.

Pottery collectors at a Georgia auction paid a wide range of prices for folk pottery made by generations of Southern U.S. potters. Face jugs are now an icon of this art form and Kovels’ latest issue pictures some of the fanciful face jugs and animal figures that sold for hundreds of dollars.

Furnishings designed by George Nelson brought high auction prices in Chicago. As collectors re-think home office design, Nelson’s sleek storage systems continue to make storage both efficient and aesthetically pleasing. See some of his multi-use storage and cabinet designs as well as his Bubble Cluster lamp, Swaged Leg chair and his take on fireplace tools—and their prices—in Kovels’ May issue.

Many collectors love old automobile license plates and are on the hunt for the perfect rustic decoration for their garage, basement or bar. A recent Pennsylvania auction offered more than 250 vintage license plates that sold for collector-friendly prices. Enjoy seeing early 20th century plates used in California, Florida, Maine, Pennsylvania and other states in Kovels’ May newsletter.

Don’t miss Terry Kovel’s take on the sale of her 40-year collection of artists’ enamels or the May market report on rare Pokémon cards. The Dictionary of Marks lists marks used by Mildred Ball and other American studio jewelers. The illustrated Collector’s Gallery answers readers’ questions about a Staffordshire dish, a Vernon Kilns Fantasia vase, a carousel horse, and a carved Black Forest plaque. And more than 70 antiques and collectibles are listed in the May Buyer’s Price Guide.

Kovels On Antiques & Collectibles May 2021 Newsletter

Kovels On Antiques & Collectibles Vol. 47 No. 9 – May 2021

Southern Folk Art Pottery … Tiffany Décor … George Nelson’s Modern Furniture … Mildred Ball’s Modernist Jewelry … Vintage License Plates … Pokemon Cards … American Studio Jewelry Marks … Collector’s Gallery … Prices

High Prices, High Style for Tiffany Lamps, Décor

Tiffany lighting, furniture, glass ornaments, windows and even jewelry captured the spirit of the Art Nouveau movement in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Nearly 130 years after Louis Comfort Tiffany and his design studio introduced their work at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Tiffany designs continue to be admired and get high prices. […]

Tiffany Style Lamp

Q: I recently acquired this “Tiffany” style lamp. Can you tell me anything about it?

A: Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) was an American glass designer who worked from about 1879 to 1933. Most Tiffany lamps have bronze bases and leaded glass shades. Tiffany lamps were almost always marked. If the base is marked “Tiffany Studios” and the shade marked “L.C. Tiffany” or “L.C.T.,” you have a Tiffany lamp. Tiffany style lamps were made by several other manufacturers. Your lamp does have a glass shade, but it does not resemble the shape of glass shades made by Tiffany. The base is probably patinated spelter, not bronze. Value, about $300.

Iridescent Glass

Tiffany is the first word that comes to mind when discussing iridescent glass. It’s easily recognizable and often signed. Louis Comfort Tiffany began his career as an interior decorator in 1879 and first saw iridescent glass in Europe. Dissatisfied with the colors available for his leaded windows, he hired chemists and glassmakers to develop his […]

How to Identify Tiffany Lamps

Tiffany Lamps are usually marked:

with a paper label, “Tiffany & Co.,” on the bottom of the base
with the word “Tiffany” on the bronze base
with a metal tag inside the shade
on the rim of the shade with “L.C.T.,” “Favrile,” “Tiffany Studios,” or “Louis C. Tiffany Favrile”

Learn more about Tiffany lamps and their prices in our price guide.

Tiffany

Tiffany desk sets and small iridescent gold glass pieces like salt dishes or small vases have dropped in value.