Find Out How The Beautiful Tiffany Lamps And Lampshades Came About And How They Are Created

Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) was a painter in the 19th century and at the age of 23 became the youngest member of the National Academy in history

. During the 1870's Tiffany began to work in stained glass, he was commissioned to create ornate windows for churches and he often incorporated plants and flowers, two themes that were later seen in his lamp work.

So it was that in 1987 that Tiffany and two of his contemporaries founded the Louis Comfort Tiffany & Associated American Artists, a company focused on glass-making, primarily glass windows. Most famously the company created a glass window to be installed in the White House. In 1885 Tiffany disbanded the company so that he could begin his solo organization called Tiffany Glass Company, which later became Tiffany Studios.

When the electric lightbulb was invented in 1879 it inspired Tiffany to create the first of his beautiful glass lampshades. One of his most famous designs was the Nautilus lampshade, appropriate shaped like a shell, that was seen in his first exhibition in 1899. Tiffany used the techniques he learned from creating stained glass windows and applied them to his lampshades, this involved cutting the glass into pieces and following patterns that were put onto paper.

Each lampshade was constructed by lining the edge of every glass piece with copper foil and then soldering them together into the final piece.

the Tiffany lampshades that are produced today still use the techniques Tiffany himself developed and use his common motifs such as flowers, dragonflies, and other natural objects.

The Tiffany method is a true craft and very time consuming:

First a model of the lampshade design must be created in wood, it is then coated with glue and has paper or linen placed over it.

The design for the lampshade is then drawn onto the covering and the color scheme is chosen at this time, the different sections of the design will all be made from separate pieces of cut glass.

The paper or linen covering is then removed from the model and the individual sections of the design are cut out to create a 2D version of the design. Each section of the design is numbered and a copy is made on a second piece of paper. The original drawing is then sectioned off and each part is used as a pattern for each individual piece of stained glass.

Once every glass piece has been cut the wooden model is coated with an adhesive wax, the design is laid out this way in accordance with the original plans, each piece is attached to the wax until the entire design is in place.

Then these individual pieces are removed and copper foil is applied to the edges, they are then soldered together. Heat is then applied to the wooden model, the wax melts, the soldered lampshade is removed from the model so that the inside edges can be soldered as well. Metal trims and other details are then soldered onto the top and around the bottom edges of the lampshade.

The lampshade is then attached to a bronze base and the lamp is completed.

by: Joy Gregory

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