Louis Comfort Tiffany was undoubtedly the most influential and accomplished American decorative artist in the decades that spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Beyond glass, he worked in mediums that ranged from furniture and enameling to ceramics and metalware, with his Tiffany Studios producing highly collectible table lamps, vases, serveware and other objects.
The name Tiffany prompts thoughts of two things: splendid gifts in robin’s-egg blue boxes and exquisite stained glass. Charles Lewis Tiffany founded the former, and his son, Louis, is responsible for exemplars of the latter.
By the time Louis Comfort Tiffany was born, the stationery and “fancy goods” emporium his father had established 11 years before had grown to become the most fashionable jewelry and luxury items store in New York. Tiffany fils declined to join the family business and pursued a career as an artist. He studied painting with several teachers, notably the scenic painter Samuel Colman, while spending long periods touring Europe and North Africa. Though he painted his entire career, visits to continental churches sparked a passionate interest in stained glass. Tiffany began experimenting with the material and in 1875 opened a glass factory-cum-laboratory in Corona, Queens — the core of what eventually became Tiffany Studios, a multimedia decorative-arts manufactory.
Tiffany developed a method in which colors were blended together in the molten state. Recalling the Old English word fabrile, meaning “hand-wrought,” he named the blown glass Favrile, a term that signified handmade glass of unique quality. In his glass designs, Tiffany embraced the emerging Art Nouveau movement and its sinuous, naturalistic forms and motifs. The pieces won Tiffany international fame. (Siegfried Bing, the Paris entrepreneur whose design store, L’Art Nouveau, gave the stylistic movement its name, was the leading European importer of Tiffany pieces.)
By 1902, along with glass, Tiffany was designing stained-glass lamps and chandeliers as well as enameled metal vases, boxes and bowls, and items such as desk sets and candlesticks. Today such pieces epitomize the rich aesthetics of their era.
Antique Tiffany Studios table lamps are the most recognizable and the most prized. They range in price from $60,000 to upward of $2 million for intricate shade designs like the Dragonfly. Tiffany glass vases and bowls are generally priced from $1,000 to $30,000 depending on size, color, condition and form. Simpler accessories such as metal trays and small picture frames can fetch from $800 to $3,000. Tiffany design of any type is an emblem of taste and craftsmanship. As you will see on 1stDibs, Louis Comfort Tiffany ensured that each piece he and his company produced, magnificent or modest, was a work of art.
Find Louis Comfort Tiffany vases, serveware and other items on 1stDibs.
Tiffany Studios Twelve light Lily table lamp, ca. 1910
By Louis Comfort Tiffany
Located in Miami, FL
Louis C. Tiffany Twelve-light Lily table lamp, ca. 1910 Patinated and acid-etched bronze and hand-blown favrile glass 20 x 16 x 16 in Provenance: Private Collection, California. Li...
Bronze
Three Light LILY Table Lamp 1900s
By Louis Comfort Tiffany
Located in Miami, FL
Three Light LILY Table Lamp, 1900s Favrile glass, patinated bronze, two shades engraved L.C.T. F Avrile base impressed TIFFANY STUDIOS NEW YORK319 13 in
Bronze
Gold Iridescent Favrile Art Glass Bowl
By Louis Comfort Tiffany
Located in Austin, TX
A delicate gold iridescent favrile art glass bowl by Tiffany and Co., featuring a flared and ruffled mouth. Height: 3.25 in Diameter: approx. 5.5 in.
Glass
Small glass goblet with Tulips
By Daum
Located in PARIS, FR
Miniature with Tulips by DAUM Miniature in the shape of a goblet with tulip decoration verrerie dite parlante (speaking glass) "Paix et peu" Blue blown-molded glass Frosted backgro...
Glass
"Sagittarius" Wall light
Located in PARIS, FR
Louis MAJORELLE (Toul 1859 - Nancy 1926) Augustin DAUM (1853 - 1909) Antonin DAUM (1864 - 1930) "Sagittarius" Wall light Extremely rare "plant" wall lamp with two lights, in gilt b...
Blown Glass
$2,950Sale Price|70% Off
H 21 in W 12 in D 12 in
EVITA: QUEEN OF ARGENTINA (One of a Kind Swarovski Skull w/ Custom Base + Crown)
By Mauro Oliveira
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
**FALL SUPER SALE** ***Looking for one of kind precious high ending art piece that no one else will have? This is one of them!*** Absolutely and positively ONE OF A KIND skull creation encrusted with genuine Swarovski and Czech crystals. The ultimate homage to Evita Peron...
Metal, Bronze
Mid Century C. Jere Wall Sculpture
By Curtis Jeré
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Mid Century C. Jere brass over door or wall art with a chic pleaded design reminiscent of a sunrise with Art Deco influences. Signed C. Jere 1984.
Brass
Cristallerie – Vase with dragonflies
By Émile Gallé
Located in PARIS, FR
Cristallerie – Vase with dragonflies by Emile GALLE (1846-1904) Glass vase known as "Cristallerie by Gallé", in form of a goblet ornated with dragonflies, stylized flowers and folia...
Glass
Soufflé Vase with Crocus
By Émile Gallé
Located in PARIS, FR
Soufflé Vase with Crocus by Etablissements GALLE Vase with semi-flat shape, Multi-layer blown glass decorated with acid-etched blue-purple crocus flowers on a yellow background. S...
Blown Glass
$1,103
H 21.66 in W 21.66 in D 21.66 in
Outdoor Lamp - "Globe" iron oxide - garden decoration - 55cm
By Stefan Traloc
Located in Winterswijk, NL
Outdoor light for the garden or entrance area. This luminaire captivates by its unique shadow projection. The ball is supplied in rusty optics. The built-in lamp part has an E27 soc...
Steel
$5,100
H 9.44 in W 7.44 in
1980 clear crystal 240mm tall, 189 mm diameter "Vase Bacchantes" by René Lalique
By René Lalique
Located in Boca Raton, FL
1980 clear crystal "Vase Bacchantes" designed by René Lalique in 1927 to celebrate feminine beauty. Inspired by the mythology of antiquity, this vase features a circle of 10 nude fem...
Glass
Diaspora Vase
By Loetz Glass
Located in Missouri, MO
Loetz Diaspora Vase, c. 1900 Glass Stamped on bottom 6 inches tall 3 inches diameter This Loetz vase in the Papillon pattern has blue iridescent Papillon design covering the exterio...
Glass
$883
H 15.75 in W 15.75 in D 15.75 in
Outdoor Lamp - "Globe" iron oxide - outdoor ornament - 40cm
By Stefan Traloc
Located in Winterswijk, NL
Outdoor light "Globe" for the garden or entrance area. This luminaire captivates by its unique shadow projection. The ball is supplied in Rostoptik. The built-in lamp part has an E2...
Steel
Small goblet with Wild roses
By Daum
Located in PARIS, FR
Miniature with Wild roses by DAUM Miniature in the shape of a goblet with wild rose decoration verrerie dite parlante (speaking glass) "Rien sans amour" Green blown-molded glass Fr...
Glass
Speaking bud Vase
By Émile Gallé
Located in PARIS, FR
Speaking bud Vase with a Victor Hugo's poem by Émile GALLE (1846-1904) Rare speaking onion-shaped bud vase, brownish purple multi-layered glass. Wheel-carved acid-etched flower dec...
Blown Glass
Tiffany Jardiniere with Emerald Favrile Inlay
By Louis Comfort Tiffany
Located in Missouri, MO
Tiffany & Co. Planter/Jardiniere with Pine Needle Motif and Favrile Glass Inlay Circa 1914 4 inches x 10.5 inches Stamped on Bottom "Tiffany Studios New York 833" Born in New York City to the founder of Tiffany & Co., the famous jewelry store, Louis Comfort Tiffany became known for his designs of richly colored works of glass in the Art Nouveau style. However, he expressed no interest in the family business and focused on his own painting talents, starting as a creator of landscapes, still lifes, and genre scenes, working in both oil and watercolor. He studied painting with landscapist George Inness, who gave him much encouragement. With an interest in Islamic and art of the Far East, inspired by Tiffany & Company's chief designer, Edward Moore, Tiffany studied in Paris with Leon Bally, a specialist in Middle Eastern subjects. This education combined with an 1869 visit to Spain and North Africa with artist Samuel Colman stirred a life-long interest in strong color. On this trip, Colman encouraged Tiffany to make watercolor sketches for later conversion into paintings. I n 1874, Tiffany returned to Europe, spending much time in Brittany. Throughout the 1870s, he exhibited his paintings widely, and in 1877, became one of the secessionist artists that included John La Farge and Augustus Saint-Gaudens who rebelled against the staid National Academy of Design and formed the Society of American Artists. By 1875, he had begun to work with stained glass for which he is primarily known, and he developed a method of shaping glass in its molten state, allowing him to create a mosaic effect. In 1879, he focused on interior design and with Colman and others formed Louis C Tiffany and Associated Artists, a collaboration underlying the famous Tiffany glass designs...
Bronze
Tiffany Jardiniere with Emerald Favrile Inlay
By Louis Comfort Tiffany
Located in Missouri, MO
Tiffany & Co. Planter/Jardiniere with Pine Needle Motif and Favrile Glass Inlay Circa 1914 4 inches x 10.5 inches Stamped on Bottom "Tiffany Studios New York 833" Born in New York City to the founder of Tiffany & Co., the famous jewelry store, Louis Comfort Tiffany became known for his designs of richly colored works of glass in the Art Nouveau style. However, he expressed no interest in the family business and focused on his own painting talents, starting as a creator of landscapes, still lifes, and genre scenes, working in both oil and watercolor. He studied painting with landscapist George Inness, who gave him much encouragement. With an interest in Islamic and art of the Far East, inspired by Tiffany & Company's chief designer, Edward Moore, Tiffany studied in Paris with Leon Bally, a specialist in Middle Eastern subjects. This education combined with an 1869 visit to Spain and North Africa with artist Samuel Colman stirred a life-long interest in strong color. On this trip, Colman encouraged Tiffany to make watercolor sketches for later conversion into paintings. I n 1874, Tiffany returned...
Bronze