What are Tiffany Shades?

Tiffany shades are stained glass lamp shades. The style of shade was originated by Louis Comfort Tiffany of Tiffany Studios during the Art Nouveau style period. The term Tiffany has come to apply to any stained glass shade in a similar style as the originals. Many mistakenly believe that Tiffany jewelry company produced the famous shades, but that was a different company. Charles Lewis Tiffany, Louis Comfort's father, was the founder of Tiffany and Co in 1837. Tiffany shades and lamps were produced by Tiffany Studios, a completely separate company that is no longer in business. The first real Tiffany shades were produced around 1895. The highly ornamented shades were an outcropping of Tiffany's interior design studio. As part of the business, Tiffany produced stained glass windows. He used the leftover pieces of glass to create decorative pieces like the shades. These pieces caught on in popularity and became Tiffany's claim to fame. Although Tiffany is often credited as the creator ...  more