THE STORY BEHIND

TIFFANY LAMPS

ARE THEY RELATED TO THE JEWELLER? SORT of. Tiffany glass was designed by painter, artist and designer Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), the son of jeweller Charles Lewis Tiffany, who founded the eponymous brand Tiffany & Co in New York. ÷ WHAT ELSE WAS LOUIS TIFFANY FAMOUS FOR? STAINED glass, blown glass and the invention of Favrile glass, renowned for its sinuous shapes, beautiful colours and shimmering iridescence. The shapes were achieved by manipulating the glass while it was still hot and malleable. Such work became one of hallmarks of art nouveau movement from the 1890s to World War I. WHERE WAS IT PRODUCED? LONG ISLAND, New York, in a glassworks set up in 1893 by Tiffany and Arthur J. Nash, a English glass blower from Stourbridge in the West Midlands, who was skilled at creating unusual colours. CAN I SEE SOME EXAMPLES? YES. In London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, which has an extensive glass collection and lots of lovely Favrile pieces. WHAT ABOUT THE LAMPS? THEY came later in 1900, when Tiffany also produced jewellery, pottery and bibelots (trinkets). The Daffodil lamp, made from 1904 to 1924, was one of the studio’s most popular designs. One recently sold at a Bonham’s sale in New York for around £135,000. I CAN’T AFFORD THAT . . . DON’T fret. Wayfair sells a variety of Tiffany-style lamps from around £45 ( wayfair.co.uk). But if you do want the real deal (and are feeling flush), Criterion Auctioneers has an original with an estimate of up to £34,000 ( thesaleroom.com).