Stained Glass Minute (Volume V): Louis Comfort Tiffany and the Women Who Made Him Famous

Louis Comfort Tiffany and the Women Who Made Him Famous... and a Major Pet Peeve

The "Tiffany Girls"

How about a little humor?

Odds are you've heard of Tiffany lamps. It's a household name and has been for well over a hundred years. But did you know that the Tiffany lamps you envision when you hear the name were designed and made by... women. Thirty-five of them. They were called the "Tiffany Girls" and here's an incredibly great article about them: Uncovering the History of the Tiffany Girls

Now - if you read nothing, read this - Not all stained glass lamps are Tiffany. (Watch my face turn red) Unless a lamp was made by Tiffany Studios, it's not "a Tiffany". If it's a pattern made famous by Tiffany Studios, but not made by Tiffany Studios, it's "a Tiffany Reproduction." If it is neither, it's a "stained glass lamp."

– (Sit back) –

The Tiffany Workshop

There I was, at an Edgar Rice Burroughs convention touring this old house in Coldwater, Michigan. I was so excited, because it was full of Art Nouveau leaded stained glass windows and slumped glass lamps. Tour guide, we'll call him Napoleon, waltzes in to give us the tour and starts waxing poetic about all the “Tiffany stained glass” in the house.

– (My husband, Martin Powell, observes me biting my cheek and me holding my breath and hides his smile.) –

The house was built in 1875.

– (Napoleon points to a slumped glass lamp, calls it a Tiffany. My face turns redder. ) –

Not a slumped glass lamp. Wisteria Lamp (Tiffany 1902)

Tiffany picked up his first glass-cutter in 1875.

– (Long exhale so I don't die) –

Suffice it to say, I didn't put any stock in anything else old Napoleon said.

Do a sister a solid - don't call things Tiffany unless you know it's a Tiffany. Don't call them a Leia Powell or a Wildcat Mountain Artistry either, unless you know I made it. Thanks bunches.

Lotus Lamp (Tiffany 1905)

Why is this a big deal? Think of it like seeing a painting with flicks of paint that resemble stars in a sky and calling it a Melissa Gay. Can you see the hair flying as her head whips around? Yeah, see, that's what I'm getting at... btw I own Melissa Gay originals and I adore her. Don't mess with my girl.

Leia Powell

LibertyCon 36