Lighting Trends

One of my favorite restaurants growing up was a little place called 'Yesterdays.' Filled with old time memorabilia, movie posters and other trinkets, the decor emulated a dining establishment right out of the 30s & 40s, with it's red plush booths and ornate wooden accents. The design centerpiece for me were the Tiffany Lamps that hung low over each booth and above the bar. I was always mesmerized by the beautiful stained glass lights and would try and count the different colored pieces of glass while waiting for my burger, fries and strawberry milkshake.

Now, years later 'Yesterdays' is a thing of the past and a chain pizzeria sits in its place but the memories live on. It was only recently that I learned a little bit about the history of those beautiful stained glass fixtures that had me so transfixed as a child.



Tiffany Lamps originated as part of the Art Nouveau movement of the late 19th century, designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, an American artist & designer best known for his glass work. The first Tiffany lamp featured a bronze base and an intricate stained glass shade - with each piece of stained glass carefully soldered together with copper foil. Back then, each Tiffany Lamp was handmade by skilled craftsmen and never mass produced.

Tiffany's first business venture was an interior design firm in New York, for which he designed stained glass windows. He came up with the idea to make lamp shades using the remaining pieces of glass and the rest is history! Tiffany's luminaries could be classed into one of several groups- the Irregular Upper and Lower Border, Favrile, Geometric, Transition to Flowers, Flowered Cone, and Flowered Globe lamps. Each style is unique yet has an aesthetic that's clearly Tiffany.

While finding an authentic Tiffany Lamp at an affordable price is next to impossible (Christie's reportedly sold one for around $2.8 million dollars!) there are plenty of passable reproductions on the market today.

I can't help but feel a little nostalgic when I look at the Tiffany Lamp replica that sits in my living room, and sometimes I even start craving a burger, fries & strawberry shake.

Lights out until next time!