Tiffany Lamp: Considering Tiffany Lamps
December 22nd, 2009The name Tiffany is at times associated with the well known jewelry business, Tiffany and Company. What some people may not realize is that the founder of Tiffany and Company was the father of Louis Comfort Tiffany, well known in the stained glass world. This brief article presents information about the Tiffany lamps created by Tiffany Studios in New York, and the stained glass lamps resembling Tiffany lamps subsequently created elsewhere.
The lamps created by Tiffany Studios at the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century are indeed pieces of art. These Tiffany lamps did not only provide home lighting and illumination for establishments, they also provided unique artwork for homes using the finest type of art glass.
Louis Tiffany was known to use the discarded pieces of high quality stained glass he used when designing home interiors, to create hand made lamp shades. The intricate lamp shades designed by Tiffany Studios had natural and geometric themes, including flowers, dragonflies, peacock feathers, rectangles, squares, and ovals, among other designs.
Thus, the themes of the Tiffany lamp shade leaned toward nature and geometric shapes. The high quality lamps produced by Tiffany Studios is illustrated when one considers the seven following factors describing how the Tiffany lamps were made:
1. High quality stained glass was used to make Tiffany lamp shades.
2. The glass was hand cut to the precision of the design for which the stained glass pieces were going to be used.
3. The lamp was hand made.
4. Copper foil solution was applied to the ends of each individual piece of glass to bond the pieces of stained glass together.
5. All the pieces of stained glass that were used to make Tiffany lamp shades were soldered together by hand.
6. The glass was polished by hand.
7. High quality bronze was used for the base of the Tiffany lamp.
Some readers may ask, what is the difference between an original Tiffany lamp produced by Tiffany Studios, a Tiffany reproduction lamp, and a Tiffany style lamp? Well, to start, the seven factors mentioned above help distinguish the high quality Tiffany lamps from the low quality Tiffany lamps.
Moreover, the original Tiffany lamps are antiques and were produced by Tiffany Studios at the end of the 1800′s and beginning of the 1900′s. These Tiffany lamps sell for many thousands of dollars.
By comparison, Tiffany reproduction lamps are reproductions of original Tiffany lamps. In other words, genuine Tiffany reproduction lamps are designed to look just like an original Tiffany lamp. High quality materials and workmanship are used. However, Tiffany reproduction lamps sell for many thousands of dollars less than the Tiffany lamps made at the Tiffany Studio during the late 1800′s and early 1900′s.
In contrast, lamps that are sold as Tiffany style lamps are often machine made with poor quality materials, such as plastic pieces. While this practice may be done in an attempt to imitate the glass pieces of the well made lamps, there is really no comparison in quality. However, because these lamps are not made by hand and with high quality materials, these lamps tend to cost significantly less than Tiffany reproduction lamps.
Another category of lamp that falls under the Tiffany style lamp is one that uses higher quality materials than the lamps that have plastic materials. However, these higher quality lamps have differences in design when compared with original Tiffany lamps and Tiffany reproduction lamps.
It may also be helpful for consumers to know that not all stained glass lamps are Tiffany lamps. One distinguishing aspect of a Tiffany lamp is that it tends to have hundreds of pieces of glass in its design, and as previously noted, is of high quality.
Given all the choices in purchase options of Tiffany reproduction lamps and Tiffany style lamps available to consumers for lighting home interiors, consumers may wish to be well informed about the differences mentioned above, before purchasing a Tiffany reproduction or a Tiffany style lamp. Original Tiffany lamps are beyond the purchase possibilities for most consumers, given the many thousands of dollars for which an original Tiffany lamp sells. However, as mentioned above, other options to provide habitat lighting with the Tiffany inspired style are available.
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