Author Description

Tiffany Studios, whose guiding force and namesake was Louis Comfort Tiffany (American, 1848–1933), stretched the boundaries of possibility for “painting” with glass. Himself an artist and a pioneer in the glass industry, Tiffany led the development of opalescent glass that allowed for an extraordinary range of colors, textures, and painterly effects. His artistic collaboration with the studio’s designers, cutters, and glaziers resulted in the leaded glass lamp shades now inextricably linked with the Tiffany name. Designers such as Clara Driscoll—who won a bronze medal at the Paris World’s Fair of 1900 for one of her shade designs—often interpreted Tiffany’s aesthetics and his desire to illuminate nature. Several designs attributed to her are included in this calendar. The jewel-like shades featured here are part of the New-York Historical Society’s Dr. Egon Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass.