Louis Comfort Tiffany (American, 1848-1933) began his artistic career as a painter, but became famous for the design, fabrication and marketing of decorative art objects. Many were inspired by natural forms. The clues to the original plants are found in the shaft of the lamp where clusters of field lily stalks, in bronze, lead to down-turned petals, which serve as glass shades over the light bulbs. The base, also in bronze, takes its form from water lily leaves and buds. Tiffany perfected a special type of hand-blown glass he called “favrile,” meaning handcrafted. He combined separate colors in molten glass, which fused into vibrant, iridescent colors (like a rainbow, or interior of a shell) in the hardened glass. In 1885, Tiffany began to experiment with ways to use the modern electric light bulb in his art work, first in architectural places and then, around 1899, in table lamps for private, domestic places. The size of this lamp is a clue that it stood on a small table, perhaps in a living room. People responded to the soft glow of his lamps, which created more of a mood than usable reading light. Special note: Although Tiffany’s name is associated with works made by his company, many artists worked for him. Mrs. Curtis Freschel created lamp designs for the firm, including patterns for the lily lamps.
Picture a luxurious apartment in Paris in the late 18th century, and you might see a desk like this one. It might find its place in a bedroom or one of the public living rooms. Desks were extremely popular, a clue to the importance people placed on writing, especially letter writing. Before the days of phones and email, people kept in touch with hand-written letters. The beauty of the desk provides an important clue on its owner: only wealthy people could afford such an expensive piece of furniture. The decoration includes delicate flowers, meticulously created with tiny pieces of wood. The graceful curving legs are fitted with gilt-bronze mounts, called ormolu. These helped protect the edges of the desk and also created mood. In the 18th-century, people lit interiors with candles, whose light would have danced off the surface of the golden-colored mounts and created an intimate, romantic mood. One of these mounts (a secret!) holds a tiny button which mechanically opens the desk. The drawer comes forward and the top moves backward to reveal compartments where people stored their paper, pens, and ink, as well as valuable silverware, jewels and documents. A flat surface popped up and could be tilted to hold reading material or laid flat as a writing surface. Students might consider the modern laptop as the latest version of this desk. Both provide people with a means to write and store what is written. Both provide secrecy, either with hidden buttons and locks, or with modern passwords. Special note: Mail was delivered three times a day in 18th-century Paris, another clue to the importance people placed on letter writing.