Happy birthday to the king of Art Nouveau design, Louis Comfort Tiffany (18 February 1848-17 January 1933), whose graceful and elegant lamps have been reduced to an epithet for the tacky stained-glass in a Houlihan’s (don’t you DARE call those things a Tiffany lamp!). Above, the man himself, in 1908.
But you don’t really want to look at him, do you? You want to see his STUFF. So…
One of his dragonfly lamps:
The astonishing glass-tile mosaic ceiling at Marshall Field’s (now Macy’s) in Chicago (1907):
(click the image to get to larger, high-res photo)
A necklace from 1902:
Glass Jack-in-the-Pulpit vase, 1915:
Glass peacock vase, 1899:
Decorative carved wood panel from his home, Laurelton Hall (ca. 1905):
More design elements from Laurelton Hall:
Dragonfly hair ornament (1904):
A desk ensemble (1910-1920):
A 1914 vase:
The amazing glass-tile column in the Met’s American Wing:
Let’s take another look at that:
Lord, I could go on and on. The man’s genius was unending.
