The Lamps Of Louis Comfort Tiffany

"First published in the United States of America in 2005 by The Vendome Press"--T.p. verso.

This is the first book devoted to Tiffany lamps in more than 20 years. Experts in the field have made a selection of exceptional lamps-many of which have rarely been seen or published-and each one has been newly photographed with the latest photographic techniques to reveal in extraordinary detail the artistic quality and high craftsmanship of these masterpieces of decorative art. Martin Eidelberg and Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen have contributed essays on the history of the lamps, enlarging our understanding of Louis Comfort Tiffany's achievement. They have also drawn upon a host of previously unpublished photographs, paintings, and watercolors by Tiffany and other artists in his employ, as well as on working drawings and studio photographs, to evoke the lost gardens and interiors of Tiffany's country estate, Laurelton Hall, that so inspired him. They outline the development and manufacture of the Tiffany lamp from freehand sketch to the finished form, as well as the chief decorative themes in Tiffany's glass masterpieces and their relation to the work of other fin de sihcle glassmakers. In this book, light, color, and the inspiration of nature co-mingle to produce a deliciously sensuous experience.

Louis Comfort Tiffany is one of the most important artistic figures of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. The key player and protagonist of the Art Nouveau and Aesthetic movements in America, and a considerable influence in Europe, he was an artist, designer, craftsman and businessman who wanted to bring art to the people. It is for his rich and vibrant stained glass windows and lamps that Tiffany is best rembered and still loved today.

"With auction prices of Tiffany lamps soaring, collectors are turning to Tiffany's highly desirable art glass, or Favrile glass. These luminescent vessels seize--and continue to hold--the imagination. Author Paul Doros explores the full range of remarkably diverse and innovative styles and forms that Tiffany Studios produced. Former Curator of Glass at the Chrysler Museum of Art, Doros spent twenty-five years studying and researching the subject. His definitive account is accompanied by David Schlegel's masterly photography, which captures the exquisite delicacy of the "Flowerform" vases, the dramatically dripping golden flow of the "Lava" vases, the dazzling iridescence of the "Cypriote" vases, and much more. A must for all lovers of Tiffany, art glass, and the decorative arts"--

Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) is celebrated today as one of the most influential creative designers of the late 19th- and early 20th-centuries. A New Light on Tiffany: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls presents the celebrated works of Tiffany Studios in an entirely new context, focusing on the "Tiffany Girls", the 27 women who laboured behind the scenes to create the masterpieces now inextricably linked to the Tiffany name. Recently discovered correspondence written by Ohio-born Clara Driscoll, head of the so-called "Women's Glass Cutting Department" at Tiffany Studios, reveals in convincing and vivid detail how it was in fact Driscoll who generated designs for such masterpieces as the famous Wisteria, Dragonfly and Peony goods. At the heart of the book are over 50 Tiffany lamps, windows, ceramics, enamels and mosaics, supplemented by a wide array of related documents and archival photographs.

"Includes over 200 colors plates, windows, paintings, lamps, vases, and other works"--Cover.

In a portrait filled with surprises, we learn about the life and work of Louis Comfort Tiffany, whose magnificent stained-glass lamps were created to shield the harsh rays of Edison's just-invented lightbulbs. Those lamps, and Tiffany's vases, jewelry, furniture, and other works, sell for millions today and are eagerly sought after by museums.

Tiffany Studios produced thousands of lamps in hundreds of designs, although many of the designs were closely related. Examine how the forms, patterns, and motifs were changed and adapted in authentic Tiffany lamps made between 1900 and 1918. By closely looking at many varied designs of Tiffany shades, a deeper understanding of their quality and beauty is made possible.