When most people hear the term “Tiffany lamp,” they picture a vibrant glass shade — a kaleidoscope of color suspended above a glowing base. But that iconic image represents just one facet of the lighting empire built by Louis C. Tiffany, one of the most influential American designers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
A new exhibition, “Tiffany Lamps: Beyond the Shade,” examines the true breadth of Tiffany’s design legacy — a story not only of beautiful objects but of evolving technologies, shifting tastes, and the rise of American decorative arts on the world stage.
Working from his New York-based Tiffany Studios, Louis C. Tiffany (1848–1933) — son of the founder of Tiffany & Co. — assembled a workshop of hundreds of artisans to produce lighting fixtures that blended fine art and industrial innovation. From the 1890s through the 1920s, they created an extraordinary range of lamps and chandeliers using glass, enamel, bronze, ceramic, and other materials, adapting to dramatic changes in household lighting: oil, gas, and, eventually, electricity.
This wasn’t just interior decoration. Tiffany’s lighting reflected a broader shift in American culture — toward modernity, mechanization, and a newfound desire for artistry in everyday life. With the invention of the electric light bulb, designers at Tiffany Studios were free to reimagine what a lamp could be. In one stunning example, the Pond Lily lamp, electric wires run invisibly through delicate bronze stems, lighting up a cascade of hand-blown Favrile glass blossoms. It’s a marriage of engineering and organic form that still feels avant-garde more than a century later.
While Tiffany lamps today are often considered collectibles, their original role was far more immersive: one part of a larger decorative vision. The company’s advertising emphasized how their designs could harmonize with entire architectural schemes — as seen in pieces like the “Moorish” chandelier, where richly colored glass tiles and intricately cast bronze evoke an atmosphere as much as illuminate a space.
These objects were never mass-market. Tiffany Studios catered to elite clients, and its lamps became symbols of wealth and taste. But today, they offer a window into an era when artistry and utility were not in opposition — and when American design was staking its claim on the world stage.
The Driehaus Museum‘s exhibition draws from both its own permanent collection and the private holdings of museum founder Richard H. Driehaus, now stewarded by the Art Exhibition Lending Foundation. Though located just off Chicago’s Michigan Avenue in a restored Gilded Age mansion, the collection has national significance — offering a rare look at how one of America’s most iconic decorative arts firms shaped domestic life, style, and industry at a time of profound transformation.
Tiffany Lamps: Beyond the Shade is on view at the Driehaus Museum from September 12, 2025, through March 15, 2026.
How to Help
The Driehaus Museum, a Make It Better Foundation content partner, engages and inspires through exploration and conversations in art, architecture, and design of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Donations allow the organization to make decorative and fine art more accessible, drawing connections between historic art and contemporary art to illuminate cultural heritage.
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