Tiffany had a lifelong fascination with color and light that inspired many of his creations. Not surprisingly, his design repertoire expanded with the advent of electric lighting. In 1885, the Lyceum Theater in New York City became the first theater in the world to have electric footlights due to a collaboration between Tiffany and Thomas A. Edison. Tiffany also created electric sconces for the theater. Five years later, he created distinctive metalwork and blown-glass lighting for the Havemeyer home. In 1893, he displayed two spectacular hanging fixtures at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. These endeavors were precursors to his famous lamps.

By 1898, Tiffany was creating hanging and standing lamps and electroliers. His lamps with leaded glass shades similar to his stained glass windows became very popular. He usually paired these shades with his own bronze bases. He adapted nature motifs from his windows to his lampshades, including fruits, flowers, blossoming vines, and trees. The “Women’s Department” at the Tiffany firm was largely responsible for producing these lampshades, and many of them were designed by Clara Driscoll. The firm also made student and library lamps with blown shades, reading lamps with glass “turtleback” tiles, and simple shades with geometric designs.

Each shade was assembled on a solid wooden form on which was marked the arrangement of the individual pieces of glass. The palette and the different kinds of glass selected gave the shades their individuality. The artisan selected and joined hundreds of pieces into complex designs. It took him or her up to a week to complete this process. The pieces of glass were then held together using the copper foil method.

There were eventually hundreds of lampshade designs. Considered luxury goods, the lampshades ranged in price from $30 to $750. Despite some uniformity and a utilitarian purpose, the lampshades are still beautiful artistic objects.

Tiffany had a lifelong fascination with color and light that inspired many of his creations. Not surprisingly, his design repertoire expanded with the advent of electric lighting. In 1885, the Lyceum Theater in New York City became the first theater in the world to have electric footlights due to a collaboration between Tiffany and Thomas A. Edison. Tiffany also created electric sconces for the theater. Five years later, he created distinctive metalwork and blown-glass lighting for the Havemeyer home. In 1893, he displayed two spectacular hanging fixtures at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. These endeavors were precursors to his famous lamps.

By 1898, Tiffany was creating hanging and standing lamps and electroliers. His lamps with leaded glass shades similar to his stained glass windows became very popular. He usually paired these shades with his own bronze bases. He adapted nature motifs from his windows to his lampshades, including fruits, flowers, blossoming vines, and trees. The “Women’s Department” at the Tiffany firm was largely responsible for producing these lampshades, and many of them were designed by Clara Driscoll. The firm also made student and library lamps with blown shades, reading lamps with glass “turtleback” tiles, and simple shades with geometric designs.

Each shade was assembled on a solid wooden form on which was marked the arrangement of the individual pieces of glass. The palette and the different kinds of glass selected gave the shades their individuality. The artisan selected and joined hundreds of pieces into complex designs. It took him or her up to a week to complete this process. The pieces of glass were then held together using the copper foil method.

There were eventually hundreds of lampshade designs. Considered luxury goods, the lampshades ranged in price from $30 to $750. Despite some uniformity and a utilitarian purpose, the lampshades are still beautiful artistic objects.

None

Tiffany had a lifelong fascination with color and light that inspired many of his creations. Not surprisingly, his design repertoire expanded with the advent of electric lighting. In 1885, the Lyceum Theater in New York City became the first theater in the world to have electric footlights due to a collaboration between Tiffany and Thomas A. Edison. Tiffany also created electric sconces for the theater. Five years later, he created distinctive metalwork and blown-glass lighting for the Havemeyer home. In 1893, he displayed two spectacular hanging fixtures at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. These endeavors were precursors to his famous lamps.

By 1898, Tiffany was creating hanging and standing lamps and electroliers. His lamps with leaded glass shades similar to his stained glass windows became very popular. He usually paired these shades with his own bronze bases. He adapted nature motifs from his windows to his lampshades, including fruits, flowers, blossoming vines, and trees. The “Women’s Department” at the Tiffany firm was largely responsible for producing these lampshades, and many of them were designed by Clara Driscoll. The firm also made student and library lamps with blown shades, reading lamps with glass “turtleback” tiles, and simple shades with geometric designs.
Each shade was assembled on a solid wooden form on which was marked the arrangement of the individual pieces of glass. The palette and the different kinds of glass selected gave the shades their individuality. The artisan selected and joined hundreds of pieces into complex designs. It took him or her up to a week to complete this process. The pieces of glass were then held together using the copper foil method.

There were eventually hundreds of lampshade designs. Considered luxury goods, the lampshades ranged in price from $30 to $750. Despite some uniformity and a utilitarian purpose, the lampshades are still beautiful artistic objects.

None

At Tiffany Studios, the first step in producing a stained-glass window was to prepare one or more watercolor sketches. Usually relatively small, they showed subject, composition, and palette. Watercolor was well-suited to this process because the translucency of the water-based paints resembled the translucency of the colored glass. A designer made these sketches. While Tiffany himself made some of the sketches, he increasingly relied on a large staff of talented artists, including Frederick Wilson, Edward Peck Sperry, Joseph Lauber, J. A. Holzer, Will H. Low, Clara Wolcott Driscoll, and Agnes F. Northrop. The latter was the principal designer of floral stained glass compositions, meaning she perhaps painted these beautiful roses.

Next, Tiffany approved the sketches, and then, the client selected a design. The chosen design was enlarged into a cartoon or full-scale drawing of the window with thick lines to indicate leading. The cartoon was usually in black or white. The designer then made two tracings of the cartoon. One served as the pattern for the window assembly. The other was cut into templates for producing the many individual glass shapes and sizes required for the pattern. Special colorists chose sheets of glass for their appropriate color and texture. Once all the glass for the window was selected and cut, the glazier put together the window using either the leaded-glass technique or the copper foil technique.
The designer oversaw every stage of a window’s production to ensure its faithful translation from sketch to finished work. This sketch undoubtedly resulted in an exquisite window.

• Watercolor on paper
• Signed, titled, and dated

Louis Comfort Tiffany came to the Tiffany Furnaces one Monday in October 1913 with a watercolor he had recently painted. It was this spray of morning glories. Tiffany was aware that Arthur Nash, the superintendent of the glasshouse, was experimenting with special formulas that created a glass that reacted and changed colors when struck with heat. Tiffany said, “Try these with your new glass.” In other words, he wanted his painting reproduced in glass. After numerous failures, the gaffers finally succeeded by using five different types of reactive glass. They had created what became known as the Morning Glory paperweight vase.
Leslie H. Nash, the son of Arthur Nash and an employee of Tiffany Furnaces, relayed the above information in his unpublished memoirs. He went on to note that the company had spent $12,000 in materials and labor by the time the first successful vase had been created. That would be about $295,500 in 2017. Thus, the price of the completed vases was quite high.
Additionally, an archival photograph taken at Tiffany Furnaces in October 1925 shows a display of prize pieces. Among the items displayed are two Morning Glory paperweight vases and this Morning Glory watercolor painted by Louis Comfort Tiffany.

None

• Types of glass: 1. Opalescent 2. Striated 3. Nodular 4. Cathedral 5. Antique Cathedral
• Painting on faces, hands, and feet
• Multiple Layers
• 1921

Joseph Lauber worked for Tiffany from 1888 to 1892. However, according to documentation, he likely designed windows for Tiffany as late as 1898. Lauber was a muralist, etcher, sculptor, mosaic artist, and painter, as well as an art professor at Columbia University.
Like many artists and designers at Tiffany, Lauber contributed to the greatness of the firm while receiving little credit for his accomplishments. One of the goals of this exhibition is to showcase the work of great yet virtually unrecognized artists who were overshadowed by Tiffany’s fame, such as Mary Tillinghast, Frederick Wilson, and Edward P. Sperry, among others.

Special Features
• An unusual technique was used in the creation of the robes. Striated glass is plated over hundreds of slivers of different colored glass, diffusing and softening the colors while creating folds in the robes. There is no drapery glass in this window.
• Another unusual technique seen here is the layering of cathedral or one color glass over opalescent glass rather than opalescent glass over opalescent glass.
• The above factors contribute to the magnificence and uniqueness of this window.

Biblical Story of the Window
The biblical story of a woman who is healed of a long illness by touching the robe of Jesus is vividly depicted in this window. She believed that by touching the hem of his robe she would be cured. Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” (Mark 5:34) His white robe signifies his divinity and purity, while her darker clothes reflect her suffering prior to being healed.

In late 1929, Tiffany Studios was granted a copyright for the design of a monument dedicated to the Betzinger family of Fort Plain, New York. In the form of a Greek temple of love, the monument was circular with six Ionic columns holding up a domed roof. The Memory mosaic was centered between two columns and took up about one quarter of the monument. Memory is depicted as a woman holding up a torch. The design of the mosaic may have been based on Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Mnemosyne painting.
In creating mosaics, Tiffany was inspired by Byzantine churches that he had seen during his travels in Europe. He improved upon the tradition by using the innovative techniques of modeling and shading to produce a wide range of colors within glass. He also cut glass into different shapes to enhance the pictorial qualities.

Helen Holt Betzinger, a prominent resident of Albany, New York, designated most of her estate for the creation of a family memorial. The monument was installed at Fort Plain Cemetery in 1929, two years after her own death. Her cousins made news when they threatened to contest the will based on what they saw as the exorbitant cost of the memorial. They received nothing under the terms of the will.

• Types of glass: 1. Opalescent 2. Striated 3. Nodular 4. Mottled 5. Herringbone 6. Granite
• Painting only on flesh
• Up to 3 Layers

This is one of the largest and most stunning windows in the collection. The vivid colors are typical of the work of Mary Tillinghast. The complex design includes geometric shapes, stylized flowers, crowns, landscapes, and figures. The window was originally installed at Trinity Methodist Church in Auburn, New York. St John is in the center panel. In the panel to his left, an angel is supporting a cross. In the panel to his right, an angel is holding a bouquet of lilies. The bottom three panels include memorial inscriptions and biblical quotations.

The image of St. John is based on a lunette with St. John and the Eagle (c. 1520) by Correggio in the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Parma Italy. That painting has been translated into stained glass several times. John La Farge used the image in creating his The New Jerusalem window at Trinity Church in Boston, which was done when Tillinghast was working with him.

Special Features
• Tillinghast carefully placed individual pieces of glass to create the details in this window. Her selection of glass makes the window look like a painting.
• The glass is often plated on the back using striated glass on the front. The water sparkles because of the nodular glass plated on the back.
• The Mary Tillinghast fecit 1907 signature is unusual in that it was painted or enameled. Her inscriptions and signatures are usually in a mosaic style using pieces of glass, as in the Maiden and Scholar windows in the East Gallery.

Biblical Story of the Window

St. John the Evangelist wrote the Book of Revelation, one Gospel, and three epistles. He is often called the Theologian because of the profundity of his Gospel, which starts with the famous prologue: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Book of Revelation is the only prophetic book in the New Testament. These writings reveal details about the last days or end times often in visions, culminating in the Second Coming of Christ. The lush landscape in this window is indicative of the Greek island of Patmos, which is where St. John received the Book of Revelation while in exile. The Book is symbolized in the image of New Jerusalem in the center panel. The strong, graceful eagle in the center panel represents St. John and the theological heights to which he soars in his Gospel.

• Types of glass: 1. Opalescent 2. Drapery 3. Striated 4. Fracture 5. Mottled 6. Hand Cut Jewels 7. Smooth Jewels
• Painting only on faces, hands, and feet
• 3 layers

This magnificent window depicts the Madonna and Child as Breton peasants in pure white robes with simple ringed haloes in a verdant arbor; it is based on the equally magnificent Madonna of the Trellis by French artist Pascal Adolphe Jean Dagnan-Bouveret (1852–1929), which is seen here on the left. In both the painting and the window, the Infant Jesus faces away from the viewer and is wrapped in the Madonna’s arms in a protective manner, reflecting her maternal love. She fears for her Son, as she is aware that he will be tortured and crucified. In more typical portrayals, the Infant looks outward from her lap or arms.

Long thought to be lost, this monumental canvas was recently rediscovered and is now part of this Collection. Painted in 1888, it is an excellent example of French Naturalist painting, a genre that Dagnan-Bouveret would come to define, and it foreshadows the Symbolist influence that he embraced at the turn of the century as well as his later religious scenes inspired by Renaissance and Pre-Raphaelite artists. This painting was exhibited in Paris during the Salon of 1889.

This window was originally installed at the North Congregational Church in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Tiffany Studios created two similar windows for other churches in the Northeast. The window’s date is based on its inclusion in the book List of Tiffany Studios (1915). By 1908, Tiffany had also set a policy restrict-ing historical reproductions, putting more focus on production of original designs.
Biblical Story of the Window

Italian and Northern Renaissance artists first used the grape vine imagery in their work. The grape vines hanging from the arbor have important religious meaning. The light shining through them signifies the hope of resurrection. Also, in the Gospel of John 15: 1–5, Christ declares:
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Jesus meant that He would still be connected to his followers after he died and rose into Heaven in the same way that the branches of a vine are connected to its stem. He would be the source of life and spiritual fruit for his followers.