Stylish mosaic glass lamps like Tiffany lamps are often too eye-catching before one can tell how many types of stained glass lamps like Tiffany’s can be found in the market.
Since the origins of Tiffany’s company, their lamps can be traced back to more than a century ago, and given their history there are five little secrets that everyone should know about them.
- Tiffany Studios: a brief history
A well-known artist, decorator and designer Louis Comfort Tiffany decided to focus on stained glass windows after a huge success as an interior decorator. Unlike his father Charles Tiffany who founded the flagship jewelery house Tiffany & Company, Louis produced a range of decorative objects including leaded glass lamps. The factory located in Queens, New York with over a century of history. Ever since the late 1890s, Tiffany’s collections have been appealing to people from all over the globe, probably because of Tiffany’s love of flowers which is reflected in his designs.
- Extraordinary craftsmanship
Without America’s finest artisans, Tiffany can never realize his aesthetic endeavors in designing lamps. With sections of glass from thousands of sheets in the cutting departments, the lampshades showcase an exotic combination of colors with sophisticated patterns. To enjoy this luxurious way of decorating visual experience, Lampwise offers different Tiffany wall lights.
- The base
While the lampshades are ironic, a vast majority of Tiffany lamps’ bases are made of bronze from his historical foundry in New York, some of them are in the mosaic form of bases. The bases are interchangeable with numerous shades, even though they should not be compromised with the design. For example, tree-trunk bases always match with wisteria. Otherwise, those as long as the proportion and shape are reasonable, lampshades such as dragonfly shades can match with different bases.
- Authenticity
Just like any other antiques, it is also likely to spot a fake Tiffany lamp with different qualities. Since Tiffany’s rivals reproduced a lot of similar designs in the 70s, a stained-glass lamp marked with the name of Tiffany does not imply that it is truly authentic. Components of the lamp such as leading, pattern, patina and the bronze base can be looked into details to examine whether this is a true Tiffany lamp. Above all, the type and quality of the stained glass are also crucial to determine its authenticity.
- Condition
Even though it is an authentic Tiffany’s lamp, its condition is also a considerable factor since it has been existing in the world for decades, if not a century. As an antique, a minor crack would be acceptable, but if there are missing pieces of glass, then it is not in a preferable condition.
Antiques like Tiffany lamps are no easy selections when decorating one’s room with this century-old artifact. Without a doubt, Tiffany lamps can be very fashionable in various contexts, but trained eyes are needed into order to make them the focal point of a room if they are placed properly just like a sculpture or a painting by famous artists.