Who was Louis Comfort Tiffany?

How were the lamps made? Were the bases and shades sold together? Why does Tiffany glass look so different from other kinds of colored glass? Were the lamps designed to use electricity? Were they expensive when new? The answers to these and other questions encourage an even greater appreciation of Tiffany's brilliant lamps and other works. Who was Louis Comfort Tiffany? Born in 1848, he was the elder son of Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of the famed Fifth Avenue Tiffany and Company. L.C. Tiffany was a painter, interior designer, collector, world traveler, photographer, manufacturer, and avid gardener. By the early 1880s, Tiffany was recognized as a highly successful interior decorator, executing prestigious commissions at the White House and the Veterans' Room of the Seventh Regiment Armory in New York City. This was followed by the establishment of the glass companies that would make him world famous. He was first married in 1872, became the father of three children, was widowed, ...  more

He was born in 1848 almost literally with a silver spoon in his mouth as his father had worked very hard in establishing the Tiffany Company in New York City, selling high-end jewelry and silver products. In order to place the year of his birth in historical context, it is interesting to note this was the year of the Gold Rush to California and the Mexican American War; the year Wyatt Earp was born and Wisconsin became a state; and the election of Zachary Taylor as President of the United States, the first time all states voted on the same day1. By the time Tiffany died in 1933, he was in relative obscurity. Tiffany art works were out of style and he had been somewhat reclusive on his Laurelton Hall estate near Oyster Bay on Long Island. What brought about the sensational revival of interest in anything associated with the name "Tiffany"? As we look at the life of Tiffany, personally and professionally, the reasons for the revival of popularity in the 1960s and 70s will unfold. ...  more